Dark Paradise
by Rose Tyler
Summary: Jacob Black finds out that his bloodline carries a much greater curse than the wolf gene. Now he has to fight for survival in a dangerous game of secrets and wits. One wrong move could result in his death... or worse.
1. Miles to Go

_When the homeless clouds starts vanishing, and the river freezes over.  
>I can watch the sunlight melt the snow; I can feel a new light start to grow.<br>But I still got miles to go before I sleep.  
>Still got miles to go before all is revealed.<em>

-Stateless, Miles to Go

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

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><p>Burning.<p>

The fierce waves of blistering agony rolled through his veins. He felt the sharp snaps of his bones splintering and then fusing back together.

Paralyzed.

He violently flailed his limbs around, thrashing his head in his meager attempt to extract his body from the flames that seared every fiber inside his being. But he could not move. He could not so much as lift a finger.

He fought and fought but could not escape. Wasn't death supposed to be peaceful and easy?

In one last desperate attempt to free himself from this living hell, he tried to see something. But all he saw was black and blood red veins pulsating through his mind.

Screaming.

Screaming the whole time, screaming with a raging level of intensity that he never believed he could reach. The blood pounded through his heart, his heart and veins rapidly pulsating as if they were about to burst.

The pain grew stronger and stronger. He willed himself to lift a finger, to utter some audible noise, anything.

Suddenly, everything was still and silent.

_This is it_, he though. _I'm dead._

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><p>His eyes shot open, and he sat bolt upright.<p>

He put his hand to his face, expecting it to be dripping with sweat.

Nothing.

He slowly ran his fingers through his hair, surprised to find it there and intact. He stared at his arms, turning them over to look for any signs of being burned. There were no signs of the flames that had, moments ago, engulfed his entire body. He suddenly realized that his clothes were damp, but could not remember why.

He put his hands over his eyes and rubbed them, confused.

Then it all came back to him.

Bella, the creature that had killed her. She was dead. The cliff, the waves. The pain. The sickening crunching of his bones shattering. The water. Water all around him, filling his lungs, filling his stomach, turning him into a human water balloon.

Finally, he realized that he was no longer in that icy water, nor was he in those poisonous flames. He removed his hands from his eyes and looked around.

The first thing he saw was a highway quickly rolling away in front of him. He realized after a moment of confusion that he was in the passenger's seat of a car.

He tensed up as he realized that he was no longer alone, and cautiously turned to look at the driver.

The driver was a stranger. She had large, dark sunglasses covering nearly half of her face. She was young and had long, dark hair that cascaded down her back in a mountain of curls. She was ghastly pale… almost like a vampire. But she didn't have the scent of a vampire.

"Here, drink this," the mysterious young woman commanded, holding a bottle out to him as she stared at the road ahead. He could not see what was in the bottle; not that it mattered.

"No," he replied with that same cold tone.

"I _really_ think you're going to want to drink that," she drawled, still keeping her eyes glued to the road.

"And I _really_ don't think so," he said, shoving the bottle back toward her.

She sighed and shoved it into the cup holder at her side, not saying another word.

After a long moment of silence, he realized that he was going to have to be the one to speak first.

"So… who the hell are you?"

She smiled. "I'm the girl who just saved your life. Who are _you_?" she chided back.

Now he felt his irritation growing. He didn't feel the vibrations coursing through his body yet, but if she didn't start giving him some answers soon, he knew it was only a matter of time before he would phase into the wolf right here in her car and kill her. Not to say the idea was unappealing at the moment.

"Where are we going?" he tried again.

"Back to my house," she answered, _still_ keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

"Why?"

No answer.

"Look, just take me back to Washington. _Now,_" he commanded angrily. Still, the wolf showed no signs of appearing.

"Sorry, can't do that," she replied, the icy edge back in her voice.

"Yes, you can!" She ignored him yet again, keeping that shielded gaze on the lines of the road as they flew by.

_This is it, _He though._ Here comes the wolf._

Nothing. He felt panic beginning to arise, though he managed to hide his terror from her. He did not want this cold bitch to have the satisfaction of seeing it.

"I'm Kathryn," she said, finally tearing her eyes away from the road to meet his gaze. She pulled the sunglasses away from her face, revealing it to him for the first time.

She had silvery blue eyes that were dazzling; they seemed to be glowing. He was mesmerized by that gaze and by her angelic beauty. He thought of the blonde Cullen, who everyone thought of as the most quintessential example of perfection. But she was hideous compared to this girl.

Looking back into her eyes, he realized that past that otherworldly eye color there was a certain look. He couldn't decide what exactly that look was; simply that, if he were not so irritated with her, he would have been terrified out of his mind.

"I know, I look intense," she said as her lips danced between a smirk and a smile. "I guess that's what happens when you have been alive for over three thousand years." She slid her sunglasses back up her nose and averted her gaze back to the road.

Now he was amused. "Oh really? Three _thousand_ years old. Wow. You must have a great diet plan and a _fantastic_ plastic surgeon."

"Drink this." She shoved the bottle at him again, ignoring his remark.

"I said no," he told her placidly, leaning back into his seat and turning his eyes toward the road.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her give him a crooked smirk. "Now what did you say your name was?"

"Jacob. I would say nice to meet you, but… you know… you're kidnapping me."

She faked offense before replying. "Only so you do not hurt your family and friends."

He sarcastically rolled his eyes back over to her. "Hurt them? And why would I do that?"

"Because, Jacob," she said as if she were speaking to a child. "You're a vampire now."

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><p><strong>AN:** First of all, I want to say thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I was so happy that it actually got read. So, that being said, what do you think of this chapter? Please don't forget to leave a review!


	2. No Way Out

_Point of no return, one second to go.  
>There's no way out; we are surrounded.<br>Give in, give in and relish every minute of it._

-Imogen Heap, The Walk

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><p>"Jacob. Jacob!" He felt a small hand shaking his shoulder, but paid no attention to it. The velvety voice calling his name meant nothing to him; all of the words Kathryn breathed echoed and blended together. The last word he could remember her saying was the one that was ringing clear in his head.<p>

_Vampire._

She slammed the trunk shut on the bags she had just carried out of the mall and slid into the seat next to him.

_You're a vampire now._

She rested her head on the steering wheel, rubbing her temples and releasing a soft sigh. It was that look that a mother with small children would get in the morning; a new day of putting up with undesired behavior that she knew she would be stuck dealing with alone.

Pulling her head back, she turned to see him still staring at the dashboard, a blank expression on his face.

"Oow!" he yelled, snapping out of his trance when he felt a sharp pain on his earlobe. He turned to see that the pain had been Kathryn using her perfectly manicured, sharp as knives nails to pinch him with all of her strength.

"What the hell? Did you seriously just pinch my ear?" He felt his anger rising once more as the shock of her words wore off.

"Sorry Darling, but I do not feel like dealing with a catatonic teenage vampire when I have more important things to do." She started the ignition, pulling out of the parking garage.

Finally grasping his surroundings, Jacob got a look of confusion across his unnaturally handsome face. "Where are we?"

A look of extreme irritation spread across Kathryn's face. "As I explained when we arrived, we took a little detour here to this mall to get you some dry clothes. I was in there _three _whole hours, did you seriously just stare at the dashboard like a moron the entire time I was gone?"

"'Moron'. That's real mature for someone your age," he retorted.

"And you _are_ mature?" She questioned, her expression turning hard. She pulled out onto the highway.

"Just let me out of the car." He felt immature commanding her to let him out, but she had him frustrated to his breaking point.

"You know I can't do that."

"Let me out, **now**," he yelled. "Or I'll jump." He put his hand on the door handle; unlocking the door and pushing it open just a fraction of an inch, he was now in full tantrum mode.

"Jacob, shut the door!" Her eyes light up momentarily with a look of panic. He wanted to jump, was internally screaming at himself to just jump and make a run for it. But the second he caught her eye, he felt himself pulling the door shut and pushing the lock back down.

A look of relief washed over her face, their eyes locking. He felt hypnotized by her stare. He could not look away. A warm feeling spread throughout his body. He felt the need to please her.

"What are you doing to me?" he asked, uncomfortable under her piercing eyes, that warm feeling still lingering.

"I'm not doing anything to you, just trying to keep you from hurting yourself!" She took a quick glance at the road before turning her attention back to him.

"Why did you save me?" He found himself blurting out the question that had been lingering on his mind since the moment he woke up in the car.

Her expression softened, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Why?" he asked again when she did not answer.

She ignored his question as they pulled into the driveway of a motel. She reached into the back seat, her long fingers wrapping around a bag he had not noticed her slip into the car earlier. 'Come on."

Kathryn got out of the car and walked towards the offices, not bothering to look back to see whether he were following or not. He hesitated, unsure of where they were or why. But the urge to please her came back, and without noticing what was compelling him, he obeyed.

He walked through the door she had walked through, and went to stand beside her at the front desk. The elderly woman behind the desk turned around, looking Jacob up and down as a concerned look spread across her face. He realized then what a mess he must be; wet, clothes shredded, and matted in both blood and mud.

"Hello," Kathryn chirped, snapping the woman's eyes from Jacob over to her smiling face. Jacob smirked at the sweet and innocent look on Kathryn's face. He knew full well that there was nothing sweet or innocent about her.

"As you can see, my boyfriend here had a little accident," she explained, making a cute little what-am-I-going-to-do-with-him expression. "He's so clumsy; he had a little fall while we were hiking a few miles away."

"Right, _fell_," he said, adding extra emphasis on the word.

Kathryn shot him a dirty look, and then turned back to the woman. "Anyway, could we please have a room for a few hours? We need to get him cleaned up." She pulled a handful of cash from seemingly out of nowhere, handing it to the desk attendant. The woman hesitantly took the money, then turned and handed Kathryn a room key.

"Thank you," Kathryn half sang, keeping up the feigned innocent charm.

"Have a nice night," the woman replied, her curious expression easing as she gave them both a smile.

"You too," Kathryn replied, returning to the woman a big smile before turning to Jacob. "You're so clumsy," she chided, playfully poking him in the ribs before walking out the door.

Right before the door closed behind her, he turned back to the woman standing behind the front desk. "Some accidents happen on purpose."

The look of shock and concern was back on the woman's face as Kathryn let out a barely audible hiss.

He smirked, then turned and followed her out the door.

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><p>Jacob stepped out of the motel bathroom, a large cloud of steam following him as he entered the main part of the room. Kathryn was sitting on one of the beds, a rerun of Family Matters playing on the television before her. She seemed to be entranced as the nerdy boy… Urkle, he remembered after a moment of searching through his memory, lead a group of other kids in a dance.<p>

"Really? You're watching this show?" he asked in disbelief. It didn't really seem the type of show someone like her would enjoy.

"It is nice to see a family, just having normal everyday problems," she replied in a dreamy voice, staring without seeing at the television in front of her. "This show was my favorite part of my second millennium," she said in a less distance voice, turning to smile at him.

"Yeah, well, it was my favorite part of my… time as a newborn baby,' he replied, slightly put off by the first kind, genuine smile he has seen from her.

"You're such a baby," she teased, laughing.

He grinned. "And that makes you a major cradle robber, if I'm supposed to be your boyfriend."

She waved her hand as if she were dismissing him, a faint smile still showing. Suddenly, the smile disappeared. She quickly shot into the bathroom, throwing their toiletries and his shredded clothing back into the bag she had carried them inside in.

"What's wrong?" he asked, both in confusion and in concern.

"We really have to be getting back soon, before the Volturi spies alert Aro that I am not home. I have already been gone for a week now."

_A week?_ he wondered as Kathryn continued to pick up their belongings, unaware of what she had just said. He had only been with her for a day and a half. He wondered if she had been following him around for a few days before saving him; he then realized in horror that she must have been. How else could she have gotten to him so quickly? Only someone following him could have been able to reach him in the water before he had taken his last breath.

He felt an icy chill run down his spine. His face found a way to grow somehow paler, any heat left in his body now gone.

"Jacob, come on." She took his hand and gently tugged, signaling for him to follow her. He let her pull him out of the room and across the parking lot. He stood next to her as she opened the trunk and placed the bag inside. As she slammed down the lid, he wondered exactly how much danger he was in.

He needed to escape.

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><p><strong>AN**: I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter; I felt kind of off beat with my writing today. I don't know if that was just me or what. But I really do sincerely hope that you are enjoying this story so far.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I promise I will start personally replying to all signed reviews from now on.

I'm curious; what are your thoughts on this chapter? What questions are you wanting to know the answers to? **Please take a moment to review!** It would mean so much to me. I really would love to know what readers are thinking.


	3. Not Lost

_Now that you have lost yourself, can anything help you now?_

_Just let your fears go; you might find your way back home._

_Let your fears go; you might find that you're not lost._

-Sunlounger, Lost

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

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><p>"Why are you suddenly so silent?" Kathryn asked as the car sped down the road. She was confused by her companion's sudden silence. He appeared to be deep in thought about something. She shrugged and turned her eyes back to the road, oblivious to the thoughts going through his mind.<p>

Who was she? And why had she been watching him for so long? He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, both curious and afraid of what the answers to his questions were to be.

Maybe she had not been following him though; maybe she had simply been watching the Cullens for some reason, and happened to find him while doing so. While the thought of his friends being watched was not exactly an appealing idea either, it made him feel better to at least imagine that her attention that week had been trained on anyone aside from him. Then he remembered something else she had said.

"Kathryn?" he asked, finally breaking his long bout of silence.

She lightly flinched as his sudden words broke the empty air around them. "Yes, Jacob?" She turned to meet his gaze.

"Are you with the Volturi?" he blurted out. He silently cursed himself for not being at all more subtle about popping the question.

She laughed. "No, I am not _with _the Volturi. They are my enemies. My oldest enemies…" she trailed off, her eyes glazing over as she traveled back to a time of the past.

He felt a slight pressure rise off of his shoulders with her words. So she was not a threat to him, his pack, or the Cullens… but then, that fact simply opened many more doors of possibilities.

"You have to give me some answers," he said, his mind flooding with questions.

She appeared to be confused. "To what?"

"Just…" his words where choked, no idea where to start.

She nodded in understanding. "You know, I have never seen the point in asking questions. There can be thousands of answers to one simple question. The world is like a Rubik's cube-"

"I've heard that song," he interrupted, clearly not amused.

"A _song_? Has someone else actually had the same brilliant thought as me before?" At his lack of an amused response, she sighed, turning serious. "So you have heard of the Volturi?"

He nodded.

"Well then you may know that the Volturi have ruled for over three thousand years. Haven't you ever wondered who created them?"

"Honestly, I couldn't care less," he replied.

She rolled her eyes at his response. "Well as I said, I am over three thousand years old."

Immediately, he realized what her implication meant. "You created them? But why, if they're your enemies now?"

"They were not always my enemies," she told him, her mind wavering between their conversation in the car and back to that far away place she had been thinking of moments before.

"Then what?" he questioned, determined to bring her attention fully back to him and their conversation.

"Originally, I had created them to help me look over the vampire world. Make sure that the rules I made were followed. You know, the stuff I'm sure those vampires you knew back in Washington told you about. No humans are to know about us. No children are to be turned into one of us. Anyone who exposes any of our secrets is to be put to death. This life is a blessing, you know. A second chance to live after losing the first chance. Not everyone is lucky enough to cheat death."

"And what makes you the sole person responsible for the fate of the entire vampire world?"

At his words, she turned and gave him a bitter smile. "Because I am the one who started this whole mess."

"What mess?" he grilled, trying to keep her talking in order to get the answers to his questions. When she did not respond, he tried again. "You mean vampires? You're the one responsible for creating vampires?" Disbelief edged his tone.

"Yes, Jacob. I am the one responsible for vampires."

All of the fear and confusion from moments before melted away to pure curiosity. "That's incredible. What happened? What did you do? Are _you_ a vampire?"

"Yes, Jacob, I am a vampire. I am _the _original vampire. Now if you do not mind, I am tired of playing Twenty Questions." She defiantly flipped her curls over her shoulder and turned the radio on, music blaring loudly.

He reached over and pushed the button to turn the radio off. "That was only ten. I've still got ten more."

She pushed the button once more, giving him a look that challenged him to try and keep the conversation going. He gave her an innocent grin, and settled back in his seat, gazing out his window at the dark fields rolling by.

After a few hours had passed, the two of them drowning in the music, there was suddenly a blissful silence.

"So how old are you?" her words echoed in the vacant space previously filled with music.

"Eighteen," he answered. "How did you create the entire vampire species?"

"No, no, no. That's not how it works," she explained with a smug expression. "You got your ten questions, now I get mine."

"As I learned the hard way, those go quickly. So why waste one of yours on asking my age?"

"I am curious about you," she replied nonchalantly. "You interest me."

He felt a chill at those words, his mind wandering back to his earlier theory that she had been following him for a week, watching his every move.

"What were you doing, suicide jumping off that cliff?"

He froze, a horror far worse than the idea of her stalking him creeping back into his mind. Bella. The baby. The images clouded his brain, and he squeezed his eyes shut. "I thought I would make it," he answered an instant later as he opened them back up. He turned his head away from her.

She clearly did not believe him, but decided, much to his relief, to not press the matter any further. "I will save my next eight for later."

After another ten minutes, they pulled up to a gate. Jacob watched curiously as Kathryn rolled down her window. A man appeared at it. "Good evening, Miss Kathryn."

"Good evening, Adam," she replied.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he interrogated. Jacob immediately wondered if he had been what she was looking for.

"Yes, I did. Now please, open the gate. I have been gone for a week now, and I would like to be in the comfort of my own home."

"Yes, Miss Kathryn," he replied, quickly drawing a key from his pocket. Another man appeared from the shadows, assisting the first in opening the large doors.

As Kathryn pulled through the gates, Jacob looked back to see the guards quickly closing the gates behind them. He wondered exactly what kind of mess he was allowing himself to be swept into. As he turned to face forward, he saw a well-lit three story mansion looming before them. The car rounded the circle drive and slowed to a stop by the large marble steps.

"Come get your stuff," Kathryn said, already out of the car. After a moment of hesitation, he opened his door and stepped out onto the cobblestone driveway. He grabbed the handful of bags she shoved at him from the trunk. She then grabbed her own bag, heels clicking as she strode up the marble steps to the grand double front doors.

He hesitated once more. If he were to follow her into that house, he may never come out. She was still a stranger, quite possibly an insane one at that. But that force was back, compelling him to follow. Rather than feeling as if he had lost everything, he felt as if he were gaining a new life that could be just as good. It was a strange feeling, looking at the mansion and at the mesmerizing girl standing on the front steps of it.

But, rather than feeling as if he were leaving everything behind, it felt as if he were coming home.

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><p><strong>AN**: I apologize for it being so long since my last update, I was very busy. But I hope that this chapter was worth the wait! This story is going to get way more intense, but I don't want to move too quickly. So let me know if I end up moving too slowly, and I would be happy to speed things up a little. I have a big reveal coming up, so **PLEASE** **DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW,** it will inspire me to write more quickly. Plus, I would love to know what you're all thinking right now. What do you think of Kathryn? What questions are you wanting the answers to (I'm not Kathryn, you can ask _me_ more than ten)?

Thank you all again so much for reading!


	4. This Darkness

_Does this darkness have a name?_

_This cruelty this hatred; how did it find us?_

_Did it steal into our lives, or did we seek it out and embrace it?_

- Lucas Scott

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

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><p>Kathryn sat at the desk in her office, feet propped up, gazing vacantly out of the window. The front lawn, full of gardens and fountains, lay out for miles surrounding the mansion; all remained, however, unseen by her gaze. Her gaze instead went far back into the past, thinking of the things she had told Jacob the night before.<p>

Her thoughts wandered, taking her back thousands of years. Anger quickly rose up inside of her at the thought of the Volturi and how they had betrayed her. It had been in her plan for centuries to rid the world of them and take back over as the queen of the vampire world. But she had not done this, or anything else she had planned, because she had been too busy waiting. Waiting for over three millennia now to find what she had been looking for.

She forced herself to smile, as if she were happy for finally finding it. Attempting to hide the fact that she _had_ found him in time, but had been too blinded by her own feelings to make her move before it was too late. A bittersweet ending to the nightmare she was living in.

She still had another chance, though, and she was sure as hell going to take it when it came up. She would just have to try extra hard this time. To find this second chance in time; to make her move before it was too late, and she were trapped forever. She silently vowed this to herself, as well as to him. Her one true love, whom she had not seen in two millennia. But once she found her second chance, they could be together again.

She felt a waterfall of tears building up behind her eyes as she thought of him. She jumped up from her desk, eager to push the thoughts and memories of him from her mind. She walked out of the room and down to the kitchen, where she found Jacob sitting at the counter, making no attempt to hide his boredom as he flipped through a magazine that had been left out.

"You could at least try to pretend like you are enjoying your stay here, you know," she teased as she walked over to the refrigerator.

He looked up from the magazine. "You know what would entertain me, is getting some more answers from the three thousand year old vampire who created the entire species and has been stalking me for the past week."

Keeping her back to him, she opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bags of blood. He watched curiously as she poured the two bags out into a wine glass and stuck it into the microwave. The expression on his face turned to one of disgust.

"I can't believe you're actually doing that."

She removed the glass from the microwave and set it down in front of him. "Are you ready to drink something yet?"

"No, I am not drinking blood," he said for what had to be at least the thirtieth time since she had met him. He pushed the glass away.

"Fine, but you are going to have to drink it eventually," she drawled, taking the glass between her long fingers and taking a sip.

"What's the worst that could happen to me if I don't?" he asked sarcastically.

"Your body will begin to desiccate; your skin will begin to dry out, your limbs will slowly begin to stop moving as fluidly as they do now. Basically, you'll end up looking like those mummies you see at museums." She leaned closer to him, her face inches from his. "Except you will still be alive." She caressed the side of his face, a look of mock worry on hers. "Oh… what's this? Your skin is starting to feel a tad dry."

She turned and smiled to herself as she walked out of the room, leaving the filled glass in front of him. He eyed the glass, thinking back over the words she had said. He recalled a King Tut exhibit he had seen the previous summer, and remembered how the young king had looked. He shuddered slightly at the thought of being like that himself. Groaning unhappily, he picked the glass up from the counter in front of him. He eyed it for a moment, then, with another sigh, took a sip.

It did not taste as bad as he had expected; it had a pleasant taste to it. It still had that salty, coppery taste that had been in his mouth as a human after accidentally biting his lip. But this time he actually liked the taste. He wondered how vampire taste buds differed from humans, why vampires would actually enjoy the taste of blood that had made his human body feel ill.

Kathryn watched from her hiding place around the corner, amused. She had no doubt in her mind that he was thinking something sarcastically directed towards her. She stared at him, enchanted by everything he did, every breath he took. She felt as though she could have happily stood there staring at him for years.

Upon hearing a car door slam out front, she reluctantly tore her eyes away from him and walked across the foyer to greet the new arrivals. As she stepped out the door, there was a flash of blonde hair, and then a pair of skinny arms wrapped around her.

"Kathryn, how I've missed you," the pretty blonde said, flashing her brilliantly white teeth at her friend.

"Brynne, it is nice to see you as well," Kathryn smiled. She turned to look at the second girl approaching them. "Hello, Adara."

"Kathryn," Adara nodded. "How did it go?"

"Follow me," Kathryn answered, turning and leading her companions inside the mansion. They found Jacob in the library across the foyer from the kitchen, which she had told him he was not to enter. He was fingering through a shelf of books, looking at them curiously.

"I thought I had told you to stay out of this room, Jacob. Or am I mistaken?" she asked tiredly.

"No, you did tell me to stay out," he replied with a mischievous grin.

Giving up, she motioned to the girls standing next to her. "Jacob, this is Brynne, and this is Adara. They are two of my childhood friends."

"Incredible," said Brynne, staring at him with wide eyes. Adara looked him up and down disbelievingly.

Kathryn shot death glares at her friends. Upon noticing this, Adara elbowed Brynne. "It's nice to meet you, Jacob," Adara said. "Would you excuse us for a moment?" She grabbed her two friends and pushed them from the room.

"What did you do to him?" Adara demanded in an incredulous tone, staring at Kathryn in disbelief. "He is a _vampire_! You were supposed to grab him as a human, not turn him and _then_ grab him. It defeats the entire purpose."

Brynne finally began to pull out of her daze. "Does he know? Did you tell him any of it?"

"I have not had the chance," Kathryn hissed back. She turned to Adara. "And he was _dying_! I couldn't just sit by and watch him die. Not after what happened two thousand years ago. I couldn't…" her words caught in her throat.

Brynne wrapped an arm around her friend. "We understand, Kat."

"No; I, for one, do not," Adara retorted. "Something tells me she found him when he was perfectly fine, and just did not have the heart to do it."

"Is that true?" Brynne asked Kathryn, pulling away and looking at Kathryn in wonderment, unwilling to believe that Adara was right.

Kathryn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Kathryn!" both of them exclaimed in disbelief.

"I knew we should not have let her go alone!" Adara said, looking at Brynne. "I told you-"

"Don't you dare say 'I told you so'," Brynne shot back with an icy glare.

"Look, I am sorry, I am so incredibly sorry. I know you trusted me. I thought I could do it, but then I saw him, and I… I just froze." Kathryn moaned, clearly disappointed in herself.

"So what now?" Brynne chastised, looking at Kathryn expectantly. "What are you going to do with him?"

"I'm working on it," Kathryn replied. "Just do not tell him anything."

"Fine, Kathryn," Adara said unhappily. "But you better find a way to fix this."

"I have a plan," Kathryn reassured her friends. "He is not the only one, remember?"

As the conversation came to an end, Brynne and Adara picked their bags up from by the front door and headed up to their respective rooms. Kathryn once more pinched the bridge of her nose, her other arm around her waist. She had a look of stress combined with irritation on her pretty face. She had no idea what to do now.

Little did she know, Jacob had heard the entire conversation. She clearly knew the answers to all of his questions, and was simply outright refusing them to him. And now more than ever, he felt the need to get away from her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I bet you're surprised to see an update so quickly! Well I actually just finished this and chapter 5. I was tempted to put them together, but I thought posting this part of the story first would help to build suspense. I don't like when stories start dropping clues and then immediately explain everything. I know this chapter is probably confusing all of you, but pay close attention to what's said. Some of it will be explained next chapter.

So what are your theories about everything? I would love to hear them!

**Don't forget to leave a review!**

(I do allow anonymous ones)**  
><strong>


	5. Closer to the Truth

_Destiny is hard to meet; it'll hunt you down somewhere along the way._

_Dare you look inside, to see the darkness that you hide?_

- Cryoshell, Closer to the Truth

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

* * *

><p>Jacob Black paced nervously back and forth on the balcony that went off from his room. He gazed down and wondered if he could survive if he were to jump. His room was on the second floor, and the mansion backed up to somewhat steep cliffs. Being a vampire now, however, he felt as though he stood a chance. On the other hand, even if he were to survive, he remained unsure of whether or not he could make it past the guards and the large gates surrounding the property. He sighed, frustrated. Kathryn truly had him trapped.<p>

As if she had heard him thinking about her, there was a knock at his door. He looked up as her head peeked around the corner. "Jacob, is it alright if I come in?"

"Sure, sure," he muttered, tensing up. He tried to hide how nervous he felt as she stepped into the room, striding quickly across it and joining him on the balcony.

"I know you were eavesdropping on my conversation with Adara and Brynne earlier," she stated point-blank.

He momentarily tensed up. "No, I was not." He looked to see her looking at him with an accusatory expression. "Honestly," he added.

"If you insist. I suppose that since you were _not_ listening, I should start from the beginning." She looked up and met his gaze, sighing softly. "I know we do not know each other well, but I already know you are not going to like this."

"What?" he asked, worried for his life.

"Have you ever done something you deeply regretted immediately after?" she questioned.

"Yes…" he replied hesitantly.

"Well I did that when I was seventeen. Only I did not get away with it like most people would." She stared down into the dark abyss of the cliff below her.

"What was it?"

She continued to gaze downward for a few more moments before turning back to him and continuing on. "I had an affair with a married man."

"A lot of people do that. What makes your case so special?" he asked.

She gave him a bitter smile. "Because this man was married to a woman known to worship demons."

"Wow," Jacob said with a look of mild revulsion. "I can see why he had an affair," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"His name was Alexander," she said softly, as if she had not heard him. "And I realized that it was wrong of me to go after him. But I just could not resist. He had so much charm. He was so thoughtful, such a pleasure to be around. Everything about him was perfect." She paused for a moment before continuing on. "I was seventeen, he was twenty; we were young and we were in love. But his wife, of course, inevitably found out."

"So this is where the demons come in," he guessed.

"Yes, indeed; this is where the demons come into the story. We did not pay enough attention at the time, none of us who knew her did. She had what I realize now to be the tendencies of a sociopath. She did not love Alexander; she was incapable of love. I did not believe it was fair. I wanted him so badly, and she had him. But she didn't even care. Did not realize how lucky she was."

"So how did she turn you into a vampire?" he asked softly, guessing the next part of the story.

"Part of the worshiping involved black magic. Alexander told me he had heard her practicing it once, but did not believe that anything was actually possible. Until that night, that is. The night she got angry and came after us."

Jacob saw the tears beginning to pool up in her eyes, and he stepped closer, his fear of her forgotten as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She rested her head in his shoulder for a few minutes, attempting to regain her composure. He heard a single nearly inaudible sob escape her lips.

"You don't have to finish the story now if you don't want to," he tried, giving her arm a gentle squeeze.

"No, no, you need to know," she said, pulling away and wiping the last few remaining tears from her eyes. "That night she found out… she was unhappy, to put it nicely. She frightened a close friend of Alexander's who knew about our relationship into telling me that he wanted to see me that night. I, being foolish and in love, thought nothing strange of this. So I went to meet him at the location in the woods where he had asked me to meet him.

"When I got there, I found him tied up. I rushed to his side to help him. He whispered to me that I needed to leave before she returned, but I paid no attention to his warnings. And that was when she stepped out from inside the dark shadows of the trees." Kathryn squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to block out painful memories.

"You don't have to tell me in great detail. I just want to know how I come into this," Jacob said gently.

"Thank you for your consideration, Jacob," she said quietly. She thought for a moment on how to sum up the horrid ending of her story. "She found a way to use the demons in a ritual of her black magic. She placed an evil inside of me. It was horrifying, being so young and having all of this happen to me. I was terrified out of my mind. But that did not satisfy her," she explained sadly.

"The evil she placed inside of me caused me to thirst for blood. Human blood and only human blood. My skin hardened; I felt my skin turning to stone. I cried and pleaded, begging for her to stop and forgive me. I promised to stay away from Alexander forever. He began shouting at her to stop and leave me alone, swearing that he would do anything. But she was vengeful, and she was unforgiving. I felt my canine teeth sharpen and begin to grow. The pain was unbearable.

"After I felt the transformation complete, my mind was racing. I was cold; I was in pain. I was shaking uncontrollably. She told us that she had put a curse on their son as well. Somewhere down his bloodline, there would be an exact copy of Alexander."

"Like a doppelganger?" Jacob asked, completely horrified yet compelled by her story. Listening to the story was like seeing a horrible accident; as much as an onlooker would desire to look away, it was not possible.

"Yes, if you want to use that term," explained Kathryn. "She told me that his doppelganger would appear eventually, and I would have to wait for this doppelganger in order to become human again."

"How would the doppelganger be able to help you, though?" he asked.

"She said I was to drain the doppelganger to the point of death; it was a sick game, you see. She wanted me, after so many centuries without Alexander, to kill this human who resembled him. Doing so would swap our souls; he would die, and I could truly live again. But can you imagine the horrors of killing someone who looks exactly like the one whose love completely consumes you? A person who looks exactly like your lover, but has no idea who you are?"

"That sounds like a nightmare," Jacob agreed. He silently played with the ring on his finger, completely dazed by her story. "So what happened to Alexander?"

She appeared once more to be on the verge of tears. "He is dead," she replied simply. Jacob wondered what exactly that meant, but decided it was best not to push the matter any further for the time being.

"So did you ever find him?" he asked.

"Who?" she asked, still caught up in her memories.

"The doppelganger," Jacob explained. "Has he turned up yet?"

"Yes, he has," she told him carefully.

"Then why are you still a vampire?" He felt angry that someone like Kathryn was still stuck in this state after thousands of years. She did not deserve it.

"Because, when I finally found him, I did not have the heart to do it. So I just watched him for a while. I had decided to leave him alone and let him live, and remain cursed forever. It was not worth selfishly taking his life for my own needs. I was on my way back home when I noticed him take a suicide dive off of a cliff."

Jacob froze, realizing what her words meant.

Noticing that he had caught on, she smiled sadly, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

"Yes, Jacob. _You _are Alexander's doppelganger."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Did anyone see that twist coming? I sure hope not. **Please don't forget to leave a review telling me what you think!** Do you think Kathryn is telling the truth/whole truth?

I would also like to add that I am changing the way vampires bodies are in this story; I know Twilight inside and out, so I am aware that not all of the things I am saying are in the books.


	6. Brave New World

_This is the dawning of a brave new world.  
>I don't know where I'm going, but I know I'll figure it out.<br>No more hesitating, it's too late to turn back now._

- Weezer, Brave New World

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

* * *

><p>"Of course I am," he said immediately.<p>

Shocked, Kathryn's head shot up from the ground where she had been looking, unable to meet his eyes. "You already knew? But how?"

"No, I didn't already know. But it just figures, doesn't it? First I'm a werewolf, then I'm a vampire, and now I'm a doppelganger for my great-something grandfather who cheated on my psychotic, demon-worshiping great-something grandmother with the woman who is now the original queen of the damned."

He did not appear angry or disturbed by these facts, as Kathryn had expected. She blinked at him, in shock. "So… you are okay with it?"

He gave a bitter laugh. "No, I am not _okay_ with it. But I should have seen it coming. It explains a lot. That's why you keep staring at me, and why your friends stared at me like they had seen a ghost."

"Yes," she nodded. "You have such an uncanny likeness to him; it is incredible. Very curious." She began slowly walking a circle around him, eyeing him up and down as if searching for some sort of difference between him and Alexander.

Ignoring how uncomfortable it was making him, he pressed on. "So you're stuck as a vampire now, forever, because you did not kill me when you had the chance?"

"Yes," she said, feeling guilty the moment the lie left her mouth. She liked him, despite the fact that he was nothing like she remembered Alexander to be. But by letting him live, she had exploited herself. And putting her love for others before love for herself had been her downfall since she was a child. She had to start focusing on self-preservation.

"It is alright though," she added, noticing yet again his awareness of her daydreaming. She made a mental note to herself to stop daydreaming, and then continued on. "From what I can tell so far, you were worth saving." She smiled.

Not appearing to be charmed, he frowned slightly. "So am I the last doppelganger, or..." He paused for a moment. "Is there another one on the way?"

"I am not sure how it works," she replied, furrowing her eyebrows. "I believe through the bloodline. Do you have any children?"

"I'm eighteen," he told her, as if that meant the answer to her question was obvious. Noticing her questioning gaze, he sighed. "No, I do not have any children. I'm not sure how things worked in your time, but here in my time that's not the norm for someone my age to have a child."

"Well then I guess any chance of another doppelganger is out of the question," she answered.

His frown deepened, his eyes once more staring out at the mountains in the distance.

"I'll leave you alone now," she said awkwardly, slowly turning away. "If you need anything, or have any more questions, feel free to come to me."

Kathryn then walked away from him, leaving him to his thoughts. She felt happy that Jacob had not asked more about Alexander's death. She smiled to herself. So far, her plan was working perfectly.

* * *

><p>Jacob held his breath as he made the plunge down into the darkness below him. He felt as if he were falling for years; his fall lasted for what felt like many long minutes.<p>

Finally, he hit the ground with a thud.

He lay there on the jagged rocks for a moment, petrified. He should be dead. He _was_ dead. He continued to lie motionless below the large cliff the mansion jutted out from.

The rocks pushed into his body from all angles. He carefully lifted his head to see one thin, large rock going through his ribcage. He realized with horror that it went through all the way to puncture his lung.

He then realized, with even more horror, that he were still alive. That he felt very little pain from his landing.

It had not hit him until this moment that he were truly dead. That he were an undead being… a vampire. Nothing but a pretty zombie.

"Please die, please die," he quietly pleaded with himself, paralyzed by shock. He wished more than anything that he could just die, so that he could have that one last moment of feeling normal. He had always believed that immortality meant never-ending life. But now, lying with bones broken and rocks sticking his body from every direction, he realized that it wasn't really as simple as that.

Once more, the fear of Kathryn overtook him, and he forced himself to gently pull his body apart from the sharp rocks it had seemingly merged with. He did not know what being Alexander's doppelganger meant, what parts of her story were true and what parts were not. But he had no intentions of staying with her long enough to find out.

His body may be technically dead, but there was a part of him on the inside that was still very much alive. And that part was filled with a fiercely burning fright of the girl up in that mansion.

He ripped off the bloody, shredded remains of his shirt and began running from the grand manor that now loomed so dauntingly behind him. His wounds began to quickly heal themselves, even more rapidly than when he had been a wolf. He ran for what felt like miles, wondering if he were ever going to reach the large gates that surrounded the mansion. He had expected there to be gates everywhere surrounding the property, or at least guards.

Suddenly he found himself standing on top of a hill overlooking a vast city, a city which was lit up like millions of tiny Christmas lights and seemed just as warm and inviting. He planned to reach it and find a bus, a plane; any way that would get him back home. His family and the Cullens would protect him; he just needed to get back to them.

He lurched forwards towards the city, but his efforts were thwarted as he felt another body crash into his own, tackling him down to the ground.

"Okay, Jacob, I am tired of this game now," Kathryn growled down from her position on top of him.

"What game?" he asked innocently.

A grin much like that of the Cheshire cat spread across her face. "This game of cat and mouse," she replied. "I have been chasing you for miles. Wondering what you were planning to do, where you were planning to go. I would have stopped you sooner, but I had assumed you would frightened and come right back to me and the safety of my home."

"I don't want to go back with you," he told her in a voice filled with spite. "I want to go home." With that, he kicked her off of him, bolting towards the city. She would not attack him in front of any humans; she had been, after all, the one to set the rule that vampires cannot expose themselves to humans.

"Grab him!" she shouted, and suddenly he was roughly seized by three guards.

The adrenaline rushed into his body, making him feel as though he were stronger even than Kathryn. He kicked out at one of the guards, snapping the guard's spine. The guard fell over, momentarily paralyzed. Jacob then staked the second with a nearby fallen tree limb, this guard freezing in horror before turning to ash and blowing away in the wind. Before he had time to react, the third guard was on him as two more were on the way. He staked the guard with the same limb, this guard turning to dust as well.

He whipped the stake around to meet the heart of one of the oncoming guards; this one, however, did not turn to dust. His face rapidly aged, looking as though he were in his mid-sixties rather than in his late teens as he had appeared moments before, his body falling to the ground. In awe, Jacob froze where he stood, staring down at what appeared to be an old man with a stake through his heart.

The fifth guard took advantage of the distraction to grab Jacob and jab a needle into his arm. Jacob bit back the urge to scream, not wanting Kathryn to have the satisfaction of seeing him in pain, as fire shot through his body. He felt weak; it felt as if he were human again and had a very bad case of the flu.

Unable to move from his spot on the ground, he painfully moved his head to meet Kathryn's eyes. "What did you do to me?"

Then, with one last burst of pain, the world went black.

* * *

><p>Kathryn stood over Jacob's unconscious body, lovingly running a hand down his jaw line. He had been placed in his bed back in the mansion, and she had cleaned him up. She gazed down at him in adoration, a gentle smile playing on her ruby red lips. He shifted slightly under her touch, and she moved to sit down beside him, taking his hand in hers.<p>

His head slowly rolled towards her, a slight moan moving up through his chest and rolling over his lips. He blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the sleepiness that edged his conscious. "Kathryn?" he said, the word barely making it to her superior vampire ears.

"Yes, love?" she answered, affectionately brushing a small strand of hair off of his brow.

"What…" he trailed off, still too drugged down to finish his sentence.

"Dead Man's Blood," she told him, knowing what his question would be. "It is like a poison to our kind. We vampires feed off the blood of the living, because the live blood inside of us moves into our veins and preserves us as if our hearts were still beating. But when the blood of a dead man enters our veins… well, I am sure you understand what I am getting at. It should wear off soon; blood only stays in our systems for a few days. You have been unconscious for just the right amount of time for it to wear off."

"I hate you," he mumbled, still overcome with both delirium and nausea. He struggled to drag himself up into a sitting position, and Kathryn adjusted the pillows behind him.

"My apologies. I never intended to harm you; but you simply were unwilling to cooperate. You murdered three of them, you know. Three of my guards. And I do not simply pick my guards at random; I specially select them. The first two had been with me for over a thousand years. The other, I picked up fifty-some years ago. Still so young. It was not very nice of you to take his life, darling," she cooed. "I cannot help but feel slightly angry with you."

"Kathryn?"

She leaned closer, softly resting a hand on the side of his face. "Yes?"

He chuckled. "Alexander really had a thing for lunatics, huh?"

Fury rapidly blossomed across her face, a look of pure evil taking place of her gentle smile as veins the color of her lips spread under her eyes, fangs now bared. Her hand shot to his throat, digging her sharp nails into his skin.

"Look here, _little boy_," she gritted through her teeth, her face now only a mere few inches from his. "I have lived hundreds of lifetimes more than you, and I have taken millions more lives than you could ever even imagine. Stay on my good side, and things will go well for you."

Her fingers tightened, a nail piercing his jugular. "But if you should try one more time to deceive me," she said in a voice dripping with pure spite, "I will make you suffer. I promise."

She roughly shoved him back down onto the bed, leaning over him. He squeezed his eyes shut, certain that she were going to kill him. He instead felt her place a soft kiss on his forehead. "Try to get some more sleep. Your blood should be clean by morning."

She then stood and walked swiftly from the room, pulling the door shut behind her. His eyes sleepily lingered on the door, waiting for her to return and stake him. After staring at the door for many minutes, however, the sleep crept back up, consuming him and throwing him into a fit of strange nightmares.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Finally I am back! I apologize for taking so long to update, I have the storyline planned out but was overcome with writer's block when trying to decide exactly what to do with this chapter. I really hope you enjoyed it, and that it was worth the wait. **Please review**, or Kathryn will come after you. ;) Thanks again to everyone who has been following this story! Your support means so much to me.


	7. Until the End

_The thinning line between you and my sanity is quickly fading._

_Until the end of me, I swear, you'll be the death of me._

_Because deep down inside, there's something that waits to be broken._

-Broken Iris, Broken Inside

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Five months later<strong>

* * *

><p>Months had gone by since he had tried to escape, and every time he saw her he found Kathryn to be more and more disturbing. He knew that there was something dark inside of her; she had been nothing but kind to him since that night she threatened him, but he felt as though he were simply within the eye of a hurricane. His playing along was simply a breeze to calm the storm that was brewing.<p>

He lived every day in the fear that that she would kill him. There was also a part of him that feared she would attempt to replace Alexander with him. He at first thought the idea as foolish, but he noticed her often staring at him in some strange combination of playfulness and excitement. As if there were ideas going through her mind.

One day while in the kitchen, he noticed her enter, giving him the look, and could not handle it anymore. "Do you mind?" he asked nastily.

"What?" she asked calmly.

"The way you look at me. It's really creepy. Like you're undressing me with your eyes."

She smiled. "Have you had anything to drink lately?"She walked over to the refrigerator and poured a blood bag into a glass, heating it up. He did not answer her, but continued to angrily stare down at the counter before him.

"Here you go." She placed the glass in front of him.

"I don't want it," he said firmly, pushing it away and keeping his eyes on the granite.

She smiled playfully. "Do you remember last time we had this conversation? Come on, drink it." She pushed the glass in front of him.

I _said_ I don't want it!" He stood up and threw the glass at the cupboards, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces as the blood splattered all around the kitchen.

She looked at the mess disapprovingly. "That blood is not going to come out of the floor tiles easily, you know."

With his vampire speed, he flew around the counter, shoving her into it. All of his fear of her was clouded by his anger. "I want to leave!"

She studied his face, a hurt expression in her unnaturally blue eyes. "Why? Do I not give you everything you could possibly desire?"

"No, because what I desire is to leave." He pushed her away, turning and walking over to stand by the glass wall that overlooked the steep drop off the cliff.

He heard her sigh, and then felt her arms wrap around him from behind. She rested her head on his shoulder. "That's the one thing I cannot give you," she murmured. "The world is a far too dangerous place for you right now, love."

She pulled away, exiting the room and leaving him alone once more.

He remembered clearly her threat, but he could no longer tolerate being around her. Something was strange with her; something was wrong inside her head. He would just have to be faster this time.

* * *

><p>The doors to Kathryn's office burst open. "He is gone," said Adara frantically as she quickly flew into the room, heels rapidly snapping on the hardwood floors. "The guards by the door are dead."<p>

"What?" Brynne asked, shocked. "Well we… we have to go find him!" She stood up and took a step toward the door.

"Do not bother," Kathryn said in a nonchalant tone, still staring out the window. "It was inevitable." Both girls turned their heads to look at their friend in surprise.

"What?" Brynne asked, staring at Kathryn's profile in disbelief.

"Kathryn, we _cannot_ let him go. What if he finds her before us?" Adara shouted, angered by her friend's decision to simply let the young doppelganger go.

"I warned him," she said simply, playing with her fingers as she continued to stare out the window, heeled boots kicked up casually on the desk. "Dorian," she called to her favorite guard.

He was by her side within the second. "Yes, Miss Kathryn?"

"It appears the young Mr. Black has fled the premises once more."

"Do you wish for us to go after him?" Dorian asked loyally.

"No. I warned him there would be a price to pay if he left again."

Dorian nodded, promptly leaving the room to fulfill his duties.

"Kathryn… you are not going to do what I think you are?" Brynne asked with a look of concern. When she did not get an answer, she felt herself begin to grow angry. "Kathryn, you cannot be serious!" She shot over to her friend, grabbing her shoulders and turning her so that they were face-to-face. "You can't do this again! Do you not remember what happened last time?"

Realizing what was happening, Adara's expression quickly turned to match that of Brynne. "Alexander never forgave you for that. That is why you are not together right now."

Kathryn's head snapped up, giving her friend an icy glare as the angry red veins protruded under her eyes. She shoved her friend into a bookshelf, books toppling off as Adara's body collided with them.

"Alexander and I belong together, and we _will_ be together again someday. We _will_ find a way to move past it."

"Not if you do it again!" Adara bravely shot back, shoving Kathryn across the room and jamming a knee into her chest to keep her from moving.

Kathryn stopped struggling as her face went back to that of a lost young teenage girl, small tears rolling down her cheeks. Adara moved to let her up, and Brynne came over to kneel beside them.

"He is going to forgive me some day," she whispered faintly. "He has to, because he promised me that our love would last forever."

She thought back to a perfect sunny day back when she was still human, a vacant longing in her chest where her heart used to beat.

* * *

><p>"<em>I love you, Katia," Alexander breathed, trailing kisses down her neck as she giggled.<em>

_They were lying in a field full of flowers, far from the village in which they lived. It felt as if they were the only two people in the world when they were in this field, and she loved it. She secretly wished that they were, even if that meant losing her family and friends._

"_Then why don't you leave her?" She asked seriously, all traces of her laughter now gone._

_He froze, placing one more kiss on her cheek before moving his eyes to meet hers. He looked like an angel with his perfect features and the sun lighting him up from behind. Laying here with his arms wrapped around her, she truly felt as if she were in heaven. Desire filled her, and she pulled him closer._

"_You love me more, don't you?" she asked softly, bringing her lips to meet his for a brief moment._

_He moaned, holding his eyes shut as if trying to preserve the memory of the kiss. He then opened them, gazing down at her with adoration as he brushed a curl from her face. "You know it is not that simple."_

"_Of course it is," she responded, feeling hurt by his words. "You love me, not her. And I love you, more than anything."_

_He noticed the pain lingering in her words, and he tried his best to console her. "I'll figure something out," he promised, kissing her lightly on the forehead. "I love you with all of my heart; with all of my being. And I promise you, Katia, that our love with last forever."_

"_You mean until we die of old age in a few decades," she said, a single tear rolling down her cheek._

_He wiped the tear away, cradling her face in his hands. "We may die, but our love will last until the end of time."_

* * *

><p>Kathryn was brought back to the present day, seeing her friends staring down at her in concern. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, resting her back on the wall behind her and hugging her knees to her chest.<p>

"He promised."

* * *

><p><strong>17 months later<strong>

* * *

><p>"Renesmee, don't play with your food!" Rosalie chastised, trying to keep her expression stern while resisting the urge to smile at the small child. She was only a little over two years old, but already she was the size of a kindergartner. Luckily, Alice and Jasper had managed to find another child that was half-and-half, and he had explained to them that she would stop aging when she reached mature physical level.<p>

The phone rang. "Hello?" Rosalie asked, placing the phone under her ear as she placed more broccoli in front of her niece. Renesmee made a face, and Rosalie giggled.

"Hey, Rose, how's it going?" came Bella's chime-like voice from the other end of the line.

"Oh, it's going great," Rosalie responded. "Just giving her dinner." She was happy that Bella and Edward had moved away for college; it felt as though Renesmee were her child, and only hers. She had always wanted to be a mother, and had never even attempted to hide that fact.

The doorbell rang. "Renesmee, do you want to talk to Mommy?" Rosalie asked the child.

Renesmee's eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded her head up and down.

Rosalie laughed. "She looks like a little bobble head doll. Here she is."

"Thanks, Rose," Bella said as Rosalie handed the phone to Renesmee.

"Mommy, Uncle Emmett taught me how to make mud pies today!" On her way to the door, Rosalie laughed as she heard Bella loudly telling Renesmee over the phone not to play in mud, and that Emmett was an idiot.

Opening the door, the smile on her face turned into a look of complete shock. She struggled to find words, but came up with nothing. Before her stood a very pale Jacob, covered in mud with his clothing torn.

"Hey, Blondie," he said, his unnaturally flawless face solemn. "I need help."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I'm curious, what are you thinking of Kathryn right now? What are your thoughts so far on the story overall? It's finally going to start picking up now, the next big twist is coming in chapter 9, and then things are going to get interesting. **Please review and let me know what you think! **Thanks again for all the wonderful support.


	8. Violet

_I'll hide out in your space; emptiness on my face._

_I'll be keeping you safe when you're cold and alone._

_Until you come out and play._

- Sarah Fimm, Afraid

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

* * *

><p>"He has barely spoken in months!" Esme exclaimed worriedly.<p>

It had been just over three months since Rosalie had found Jacob at the front door, calling her family back home as soon as possible when she realized that he were a vampire. Before his reappearance, they had assumed at first that he had run away, distraught over Bella's death. But after missing for six months, however, they had assumed the worst.

"He has obviously been through something rough," Jasper told his adoptive mother. "I can sense it. The strange thing is though, I can't _feel _anything."

"What do you mean?" Rosalie asked curiously.

"I mean that… right now, I feel Esme's worry. I feel the concern of everyone in the room. But with him… there's just a sort of silence."

Alice nodded. "I get that too. It's the strangest thing. I do not understand it," she said with frustration. "I couldn't see him before because he was a wolf, and I have never been a wolf. But I am a vampire, so I should be able to see him perfectly now. Yet still, there is nothing. Something is very much wrong with him."

Carlisle turned to Edward, who had just returned from school in Alaska to attempt figuring out what was wrong with Jacob. They had yet to tell Bella about Jacob, worried about how she would handle what had happened to her best friend. "Are _you_ getting anything from him, Edward?"

Edward shook his head. "Silence."

"You could hear things before, though?" Alice questioned in bewilderment.

"Yes, perfectly clear," Edward replied with a smirk. "Very _loud_ and very clear."

"Do you think maybe it was the Volturi?" Emmett asked, finally speaking up.

They all turned to look at him.

"Volturi?" Alice asked. "What would they want with him?"

"I don't know," Emmett answered. "But he's a vampire now, and they were the only other vampires who had met him. And something is strange with him, with his mind. None of the three of you can use your abilities on him, and Jasper and Edward used to be able to."

"So what exactly are you suggesting?" Rosalie asked, sounding defensive. "Because if any of you try to lay a finger on him, I will rip off your hand."

They all turned to her in shock.

Jasper looked at his sister with a questioning glance. "I thought you hated him?"

"He's still a child," Rosalie shot back angrily. "He's obviously been through some terrible trauma. Well all did at his age, which was when we all became vampires. He's fine. Whatever happened to him, he will move on from it someday."

"I hope you are right," Esme said quietly, staring vacantly at the rain as it ran down the glass wall across the room.

"About what?" The room grew quiet as Jacob stepped into the room. He still looked unwell; while still having perfect features, his face had grown gaunt, pale even for a vampire. His skin stretched tightly over his bones, and there was what appeared to be a permanent shadow across his face.

"Jacob, dear, can I speak to you in private?" Esme asked, taking a cautious step toward him.

"Sure, sure," he mumbled, giving his forehead an unnecessary scratch before turning and walking toward Carlisle's office.

Esme took a glance back at her family, their faces all matching in expressions of concern. Rosalie nodded gravely at her as she stepped out from the room and followed Jacob into the office.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his eyes and voice devoid of any emotion.

"Well, to be honest…" she paused briefly, wondering how to go about what she had to say delicately. "To be honest, Jacob, we are all very worried about you."

He stared blankly at her, his face emotionless yet distantly thoughtful.

"Jacob?" Her voice pulled him slightly further out of his daze. It felt as if he were nodding off; as if he were falling asleep, and no matter how hard he tried to fight it, he could not completely wake up. Floating, simply floating through the distant, foggy dream that was now his life. If it could even be called that anymore.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" She was trying to be patient, calm, trying not to worry him. Trying to avoid any indication of her concern for his sanity. But truth be told, she was worried out of her mind for the lost child she had come to think of as a son. He had not been himself since she had known him as this vampire. A cold stranger before her, all traces of the young man with the radiant personality gone. The sarcastic comments. The jokes. That mischievous grin. The stubbornness. All of the little things that made him Jacob Black. Gone in the blink of an eye.

"I'm fine," he said simply.

"No, you are not," she quickly retorted, the impatient edge to her voice like a wave under the boat that was her usual calm, nurturing tone. "Did you see your father?"

His eyes shot open wide, undoubtedly alarmed by her question. She realized at this sight that she said something that she should not have. But more importantly, she realized that she had finally figured out what was wrong with him.

"He disowned you?" she asked sadly, more of a statement than a question. His face somehow managed to fall even more into darkness; he did not reply, but rather chose to look away.

In two quick strides, she was standing in front of him, wrapping her arms that to him now felt warm to the touch around his shoulders. She held him tightly, thankful that tears could no longer fall from her face as she suppressed the sobs that threatened to shake her body.

"I love you, Jacob. You know that, right?" She pulled away, leaving her hands on his shoulders. He did not answer her, his gaze still wandering anywhere else but to hers. "You are my son now. And I do not understand how your father could do this to you. Leaving you out on your own just because of some stupid legends. My god, you're just a child!"

She took a moment to catch her breath, feeling overcome with dizziness by her anger. "You are always welcome with me. I know this is hard now, but it _will_ get better someday. I promise." She gave him one last hug before exiting the room, overcome with emotion and not wanting him to see so.

Jacob watched after her sadly as she left. He fervently wished that he could tell her everything. That he could tell her about Kathryn and the doppelganger curse, how he escaped… what _really_ happened when he went back home. But he could not; for it were too dangerous, and he was too afraid.

* * *

><p><strong>One month later<strong>

* * *

><p>"You broke my favorite vase!" shouted Medusa.<p>

Okay, so that wasn't her _real_ name. It was Marissa. But with her ugly face and the wild hair that sloppily framed her face, Violet Mercer felt that Medusa was a name better suited for her mother.

"I didn't break your precious vase!" Violet retorted, her voice matching that of her mother.

"Well Tyler said you did," Medusa loudly shot back, snake hair blowing in the breeze that was flowing through the window.

"Did you ever think maybe he was lying? That maybe _he_ was the one who broken it?" Violet asked, not so much as attempting to hide the rising irritation in her voice.

"Tyler wouldn't do something like that," Medusa defended her son. "It had to have been you."

"I wasn't even home when it broke," Violet growled angrily.

"Ladies?" Violet's father stepped into the room, leaving his office for the first time in hours. Violet wondered whose side he was going to take. Probably her mother's; but it was nice to imagine that he would take hers.

Her parents had never seemed to care much for her. They tended, rather, to ignore her, her mother only paying attention when picking fights with her. Her younger brother, Tyler, was clearly their mother's favorite. Her father did not care for any member of his family, which was evident by his next words.

"Could you keep it down? I'm trying to work." He retreated back into his office, closing the door behind him. His wife put a hand of her hip and frowned disapprovingly at the door before retreated into the kitchen.

Violet sighed, running her fingers through her wavy hair. If it were not for her amazing friends, she would have run away from home long ago. Sure, her family was wealthy, and she could have anything she desired. But her parents were ignorant and unstable, and her brother was nothing but a constant irritation to her. He always did terrible things and then framed her for them, and their mother always seemed to believe him, no matter how far-fetched were the things that he said. She did not even look like them; it felt as though she did not belong in the family.

Hearing her cell phone ringing from within her bedroom, she quickly ran up the stairs, pressing the button to answer. "Hello?"

"V, what's up?" she heard her best friend, Katy, on the other end of the line.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Violet said, sitting down on her window bench and watching the rain trickle down the glass.

"Your parents may have a lot of dollars, but definitely no cents."

"That is your worst pun yet," groaned Violet.

"You know you're silently shaking with laughter," Katy said in a self-assured voice. "So I have some interesting news," she changed the topic, now serious.

"And what is that?" Violet asked, intrigued. Katy never used the word "interesting" in vain. And her father was the mayor, so this must be something truly intriguing.

"Seneca Falls has a new family moving in, the Cullens. They just got here today. They're the ones who have been building that mansion in the woods. I went with my parents today to welcome them to town."

"Why would anyone move _here_? It's such a small town, and there is nothing to do."

"I don't know." Violet could imagine the shrug Katy was pairing with the pitch of her voice as she laid on her bed, twirling her hair.

"They seem really weird," Katy gossiped. "They were all pale and way too polite."

"Probably just when their parents are around," Violet suggested, wrapping her free arm around a throw pillow. "We know kids like that; remember the Thompsons? They were angels, and then as soon as their parents left the room, chaos."

"Yeah, maybe. The guys are pretty hot though. At least they're hot douche bags," Katy said, mock attempting to console the both of them. "Anyway, I better get going."

Violet laughed. "Okay, talk to you later." She pushed the button to hang up, and then set her phone down, entranced by the rain.

It was probably just the simple idea of a new family in this small town. But she felt as though this new family, the Cullens, were bringing something much bigger with them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Not much to say about this chapter; I know it's not too exciting, and it probably seems like a filler. But my intention with it was to lay down some stepping stones for the upcoming chapters. As I promised, next chapter has a big plot reveal. So **please, review and let me know what you think of this chapter**, I would love to know your theories about any questions you may have. (Such as what Kathryn's been up to, what's wrong with Jacob, who is Violet.) Also, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I apologize if I did not reply to your review, it was a crazy week and I honestly don't remember if I replied or not. But regardless of that, your reviews and support mean the world to me. So thank you!


	9. Struck Like a Meteor

_The moment I saw her, the girl with a broken smile; painful silence and secrets in her eyes. Mysterious girl. So hypnotic. She pulled me in. She struck like a meteor, and I knew I'd never let go._

- Tinchy2010 [youtube user]

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

* * *

><p>The eyes of Violet Mercer shot open. Something felt wrong.<p>

She groggily grabbed the clock on her bedside table and squinted her eyes against the harsh sunlight that was filtering through the curtains. Seven in the morning.

"Damn it!" she shouted, flying out of bed and across the room to her closet. Class started in half an hour; there was no way she was going to make it in time. Late on the first day of school for a high school student was the equivalent of a death warrant. All of the teachers would label her as a troublemaker, and they would keep close, annoyingly watchful eyes on her for the rest of the year.

Once she had thrown on some jeans and a blouse, she tied her hair back, grabbed her backpack and keys, and ran for the garage. She saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table, calmly sipping her morning coffee and reading the paper.

"Mom, why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, frustrated. Her mother simply shrugged in response. Violet growled, then jumped into her car and quickly backed out of the driveway.

She made it to school ten minutes late. She had planned on getting to school earlier to locate all of her classrooms, but now she just had to spend the day blindly searching for them. Finally, twenty minutes into class, she managed to find her first class of the day; English.

She took a deep breath, preparing for all of the eyes that would be on her as soon as she walked through the door. Then, she slowly pulled it open, cautiously peering into the room. As she had predicted, all eyes turned to her.

"Hi," she said shyly, moving her eyes to meet those of the teacher.

"Miss Mercer, I presume?" the teacher, a middle aged woman with a horrible floral skirt, asked.

"Yes," Violet replied. "Sorry I'm late." She decided the oversleeping story was not the best way to start off with when meeting a new teacher.

"That's alright, you're not the first Junior to be late to class," said the teacher with a smile. "Please, take a seat."

Violet nodded and sat down at the only empty desk in the room. She noticed as she sat in her seat that amongst all of the familiar faces, there was someone new sitting across the room. Their eyes met for a brief moment. She was surprised at how perfect he was. Everything about him was dark, but in an alluring way. His hair was jet black, his eyes were a deep brown, and he wore a black leather jacket over a dark grey shirt and dark jeans.

She remembered then about the new family Katy had told her about; the Cullens. This must be one of those hot sons her friend had been talking about. But this one was beyond simply hot. There was a sexy, mysterious aura around him, as if his dark features and clothing were hiding something. Something that made her curious.

He stared at her incredulously, and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She smiled meekly, trying to seem friendly. Hoping that he would stop giving her that intense stare. He then tore his gaze away from hers, focusing on the teacher and her lecture on Shakespeare. Finally, class ended, and the students all made their way out of the classroom and toward their next classes.

She had classes with the other Cullen family members, but no more with the dark haired boy in her English class. She had assumed that maybe they were all strange, but she worked with two of them, Emmett and Alice, in her third period History class, and they were incredibly friendly. She thought about asking them about their brother, but then decided that it may come across to them as her being a creep.

Fourth period finally ended, and she jumped up, running for her locker. She was anxious to leave school, as was everyone else.

"Hey there!" a voice came from out of nowhere, and she quickly whipped her head around, seeing Katy standing there. "Scare you?" Katy asked with a grin.

"You're so creepy," she told her friend, placing her textbooks in her locker as she tried to slow down her heart rate.

"So did you see the Cullen boys?" Katy wiggled her eyebrows.

"Yes, I even _spoke_ to one of them," Violet replied in a teasing voice.

"Oh my gosh, which one?" Katy asked, excited.

"Emmett. And he's taken. So is Jasper."

Katy pouted. "So is Edward. Let's cross our fingers that the fourth brother is hot and single. I didn't even see him today." Her pout deepened further.

"I did," Violet told her friend, eyebrows furrowed.

"You did?" Katy's eyes grew wide. "How was he, compared to the other three?"

"Sexier. Much less friendly, though. I made eye contact with him, and he just sort of… glared at me."

"With sex eyes?" Katy wiggled her eyebrows again, far more suggestive this time.

"No, more like the look a murderer gives to his next victim."

"Hey, that could be fun, too," Katy said, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder. "Well, I better get going. Family game night." She sarcastically cheered as she walked off down the hallway.

Violet smiled at her friend's retreating back, and then turned her attention back to retrieving her homework from her locker. She slammed the door shut and gasped in surprise. It was the Cullen boy from her English class.

"Um… hi," she said hesitantly, forcing herself to smile. "You scared me."

"What are you doing here?" he grilled, looking angry.

"Just… doing the school thing," she replied, once more uncomfortable under his stare.

"I'm serious. How did you find me?" She noticed in the way his voice wavered that there was a great fear inside of him.

"Look, I've never met you before," she explained, trying not to appear as irritated as she was. "You have the wrong girl."

"Very funny, Kathryn," he growled, looking at her as if she had just told an offensive joke. "What kind of game are you playing?"

"I'm not Kathryn. I'm _Violet_. Violet Mercer. Maybe the girl you think I am is really my… long lost twin, or… I don't know, my doppelganger," she suggested sarcastically.

His eyes darkened as if he had had a huge revelation. He looked sick to his stomach with horror.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, boldly reaching out and placing a hand on his face. She gasped. "You're so cold, and you look so pale. Do you want me to take you to the hospital or something?"

He quickly jerked away from her touch, coming back from his thoughts.

"No, I'm fine. Really. Probably just a side effect of all the bad lighting and the moldy air."

She laughed, now feeling slightly less disturbed about being alone in the hallway with him. "That's probably it."

Much to her surprise, he smiled back. He had the smile of an angel, and she felt an unexpected rush of desire pulsate through her veins. "I apologize if I scared you. You look exactly like this girl I used to know. We don't exactly have the best history."

"What, is she an ex-girlfriend or something?"

His smile became one of amusement. "Something like that."

"Well… sorry I remind you of her," Violet apologized. "But you don't have to worry about me breaking your heart." Intoxicated by his perfect smile, she found herself wanting him to like her. No; wanting him to_ desire_ her. Katy would be mad, of course, but at that moment, Violet simply did not care. She wanted him.

She then realized that she did not even know the name of this perfect being standing before her. "What's your name?" she asked, wanting to know more about him.

"Jacob," he told her. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself before accusing you of being a bitch I used to know." He then noticed that the sky outside was dark. Lightning dangerously light up the air. "It looks like it's about to get bad out. Let me walk you to your car."

They headed out toward the parking lot, Violet smiling on the inside at the thought of how much she liked him, proud of how easily she captured his attention. They reached her car as a light sprinkle of raindrops softly fell all around them.

She placed her bag in the car, and then turned around to smile at him for one last time. "Thanks for walking me out. See you in English tomorrow?"

"Sure, sure. See you then," he replied with a thoughtful expression, gazing off into the woods beyond the lot.

She climbed into her car and watched him in the rearview mirror, saddened by the thought of them being apart when all she wanted to do was get closer.

Jacob watched the young girl's car as it exited the parking lot and took off down the road. So Kathryn had lied. _He is not the only one, remember? _Kathryn's words echoed in his mind, now taking on a whole different meaning.

He felt bad for this innocent young girl, not knowing about the horrible fate that was in store for her. She was a doppelganger, just as he was. And she was the key to ending it, the last remaining key with him no longer being a possibility. She was as good as dead. Kathryn would find her, and she would be drained of every single drop of blood in her body. And Kathryn would be human again. The Cullens would be human again, Rosalie undoubtedly being the happiest of them all. And he, Jacob, would be human again too. Only, after everything Kathryn had done to him, all of the pain she had put him through, he could never again have his life back. No matter what.

He was terrified of Kathryn and her icy eyes. The way they looked at him with such lust for Alexander, yet so much hatred for him, the rebellious clone of her beloved. He wanted to run away and hide himself from the world. But Violet was only sixteen; she had not even had the chance to live. Just like he had not. And it would be cruel to take that chance away from her as it had been taken from him.

Thinking of the way she smiled at him, how friendly she was and the vast and wonderful ocean of possibilities of her future that awaited her should she survive this curse. The memory of the sweet smile that showed him that she was nothing like Kathryn on the inside burned into his brain. He was going to stay and fight for her. He was going to fight for both of them; what this curse had taken from him, and what is was trying to take from her.

He would save her, no matter what he had to do.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I feel like this chapter is a little strange. So I apologize if you found it to be that way, as well. It was weird to leave the darkness of the story, but I needed to set up Violet's character, have her meet Jacob, lay down the foundations of their friendship before jumping right into the next plotline. Thanks for all of the awesome reviews from last chapter! **Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter! **I always love knowing readers' thoughts and questions.


	10. Outrageous Fortunes

_To be, or not to be: that is the question. _

_Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune._

_Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them._

_To die: to sleep no more._

- Hamlet

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Beep! Beep! Beep!<em>

Violet slowly opened her eyes as she turned off her alarm clock, smiling. Six in the morning. Normally she hated how she had to be up this early for school, but today she did not mind. She glowed as she thought of Jacob. Her stomach knotted with nerves as she thought of the way her heart fluttered at the mere sound of his voice. She wondered if he had noticed that; she hoped not.

She had no idea why he made her so nervous; boys never did. She was always full of confidence, always managed to keep her cool. But something about this boy seemed different. Maybe the way he looked into her eyes while taking to her instead of down at her body. Maybe the way he did not talk down to her like everyone else did simply because she was a pretty young girl. He did not assume that she was dim and immature, but rather treated her as an equal. Or maybe it was just his dark, unnatural attractiveness that pulled her in.

She went to her closet and began pushing clothes aside, searching for the perfect outfit. After showing up to the first day of school looking terrible, she hoped this time to make a better impression on her classmates. She finally decided on a black bodycon dress and black booties, finalizing the outfit with her favorite midnight blue leather jacket. She curled her hair and pulled it to the side, slipping on her favorite silver heart ring.

She then looked up to see her favorite necklace hanging from the corner of her mirror: the beautiful onyx pendant that her grandmother had given to Violet as she lay on her death bed. Other than Katy, who had been like a sister to her, her grandmother was the only person she ever felt truly loved her and cared about her well being. She smiled, remembering how her grandmother explained that the necklace had been passed down for generations from mother to daughter, but that Violet's mother was "too much of a bitch," to possess it. So she had given it to Violet, her granddaughter, on the last night of her life.

Violet held the small pendant in her hand, fondly gazing down at it before placing it around her neck. She then grabbed her bag and her keys and headed out to her car, carrying herself with confidence as she thought of the better second impression she would make on her classmates. Hopefully Jacob, as well.

* * *

><p>So Kathryn had a doppelganger too. Jacob paced the length of his room, pondering how it was possible and what it meant. Obviously Kathryn had lied when she told him the story of her origins; at the very least, she had left out a major part. He had considered going back to her and confronting her about it, but he immediately ruled that out as an option. If Kathryn wanted to play a game of secrets, then he would play, as well.<p>

He wondered exactly how he could protect Violet; was there any chance that with him guarding her and playing his cards right, Kathryn would never find out about Violet? Somehow that did not seem possible. So what, then? Kathryn was much older; a thousand time stronger than him. Would Dead Man's Blood work on her? Something told him that it would not. Would a stake through the heart kill her? If it were possible to sneak up on her, it would be worth a try. He knew that Violet would be safe; doppelgangers were not physically linked. Otherwise, he would have died along with Alexander.

Which made him wonder: what exactly happened to Alexander? When she said he was dead, did she mean that he died as a human? That his wife had murdered him after she found out about the affair? Or had he become an original vampire, as well? Jacob had many potential theories about that possibility. The theory that stood out to him most prominently was the theory that Alexander had left Kathryn after she had tempted him into betraying hims wife, resulting in his untimely demise, and she had gotten angry, murdering him in cold blood as revenge. She was definitely capable of that.

He looked down at the onyx ring on his finger. As Carlisle had explained to him upon his arrival at their home, all vampires had to wear onyx in some way, shape or form to keep themselves from dying from the rays of the sunlight. He explained that when he had been turned, he had been wearing the ring of his father, with an onyx stone in it. When he stepped into the sunlight, he did not burn as vampires were supposed to. His father had told him that onyx was said to absorb light waves and ward off negativity; Carlisle believed what his father said was the reason why it protected vampires. Just as everything else about the human body is heightened as a vampire, so was the ability of onyx upon contact with vampire skin to absorb sunlight and protect said vampire. The negativity it warded off, of course, was death.

Neither Carlisle nor any of the other Cullens had any explanation as to why sunlight hurt vampires in the first place. They theorized that also to be something to do with the way body and senses were magnified for a vampire. But Jacob secretly believed that it was because Alexander's wife had wanted to damn Kathryn to an eternity of loneliness; humans always stay inside at night, leaving Kathryn no way to interact with any other beings. An eternity of lurking in the shadows alone, waiting for lifetimes for the key to breaking her curse. Maybe that was why she had begun creating vampires in the first place.

"Jacob?" He turned around to see Alice standing in the doorway of his room with a hesitant smile on her face. "We need to leave for school in five minutes. Do you need help getting dressed?" She teased.

He grinned back at her. "No, Esme laid my clothes out for me this morning."

Alice laughed at his joke and disappeared down the hallway. As soon as she was out of sight, he let the grin fall from his face. Pulling on his jacket, he followed after her, wondering exactly how he was going to tell Violet that she was the doppelganger of an ancient vampire who was out for her blood.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Jacob heard a cheerful voice greet. He looked up to see Violet grinning down at him, dressed quite nicely for a day at school. She sat down at the desk next to him, leaning over to pull her textbook out of her bag.<p>

"Hi," he replied simply, watching her as she did so. "What are you so dressed up for?"

She looked over at him with a serious expression. "Does there need to be a reason to look nice? Back off ," she said, pretending to be irritated. Seeing that he was not going to reply, she continued on with the truth. "Honestly, I looked terrible yesterday. I overslept and I had to get ready as soon as possible. Everyone is lucky that I was even dressed period. I looked terrible."

"I didn't notice," he answered. She smiled warmly at him.

"Hello, class," the teacher, who she had finally learned was named Mrs. Flora, greeted the class. "Excited for our second day of English class?" There was a variety of sarcastic comments flying through the air throughout the next few seconds. "Well, then, I'm glad you're excited."

Mrs. Flora turned and began writing notes on the board for them to copy down. Violet filled with disappointment when Mrs. Flora announced that they would be starting Hamlet. That meant that there would be no more opportunity to talk to Jacob.

"This is boring," a boy with blonde hair complained twenty minutes into class, interrupting the girl who was stuttering over the most simple of words as she was forced to read aloud to the class.

"I agree," said another boy the blonde guy had been speaking to before class. "Why can't we just read on our own or in groups or something?"

Mrs. Flora looked thoughtful. "I suppose that's alright with me. Just make sure the play is the only thing being discussed." She sat down at her desk and began sorting through papers as the class cheered and began moving desks around.

Violet had to resist the urge to grin. She turned to Jacob. "Do you want to endure the torture of _Hamlet_ with me?"

"Sure," he replied. "But to save us both some time, I've read this before," he told her, leaving out the fact that it had been during his first time through High School. "Basically what we're reading today is some guard sees a ghost, and it's Hamlet's dad."

Violet pretended to pout. "Hey now, Jacob, I was really excited about reading this chapter. You just ruined it for me."

"Sorry. If you want, I can read it to you in a bad British accent."

"I'll pass, but thanks for the offer." She began searching through her bag for a pen, and he watched her as she did so. It amazed him how much she resembled Kathryn right down to every detail; she had the same silvery blue eyes, the same dark auburn hair, all of the same features; only Violet's were much less intense. Kathryn had that vampiric beauty, while Violet's was humane. Natural. Normal.

"So where did you move here from?" she questioned, pretending that she had not noticed him staring.

"Chicago," he said simply.

Another short answer. Slightly frustrated, Violet decided to change the direction of the conversation. "So how long have you been with the Cullens?"

"Not long," he answered truthfully. "I was orphaned a couple of years ago, and the Cullens were old friends. They took me in."

"I'm sorry about your parents," she said with eyes full of sympathy. She understood now why he seemed so dark. "I'm glad the Cullens were there for you, though. I've met a few of your adoptive siblings; they're nice."

"How are things going here?" They both looked up to see Mrs. Flora standing expectantly over them.

"We're great," Jacob replied with a mild expression of humor.

"Great! Any questions?"

Irritated by Mrs. Flora's perkiness, Violet did her best to look serious. "Yes, I have one. Why do they talk so funny?"

For the first time, Mrs. Flora frowned. "Because Shakespeare was trying to make his words beautiful, like poetry."

"But nobody could understand them. How did anyone actually enjoy the play? Did they just pretend to enjoy it because it was a sign of great wealth to be able to attend the theater, and they wanted to pretend to be intellectual? It seems that way to me." Violet continued to look serious, and Mrs. Flora continued to stare at Violet with mild confusion. She then walked away towards the next group, asking them how they were doing as well.

Jacob smirked. "That's mean to taunt her like that."

Violet nonchalantly shrugged. "She should have let us read a better book."

"And _how_ old are you?"

"No, no. That's not how this game works," she teased playfully. "I'm not finished with _my_ round of Twenty Questions." Her words reminded Jacob of his car ride with Kathryn. Hearing them come out from the mouth of Violet, who was so identical to Kathryn, sent chills up his spine.

Suddenly, the bell rang loudly, interrupting their moment. Jacob turned to Violet as he stood up and grabbed his backpack. "Well, see you in class tomorrow, I guess."

"No, come find me after school. You know where my locker is." She gave him a flirty smile and then walked confidently out of the classroom. He smiled at her retreating back, wondering how he was possibly going to save her from her ill-fated destiny.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I know you were probably reading like, "shit, this is turning into a sappy love story". But no, I promise, that's not it. Next chapter she finds out and things get serious again. I just wanted to take this chapter to establish a friendship between them, because if Jacob were to just be like, "hey stranger, I know a vampire identical to you who wants to kill you", that would be sort of awkward and she'd pepper spray him and file for a restraining order. Anyway, please review if you liked the chapter! As always, I would love to know your thoughts.


	11. Stranger Than Fiction

_Truth is always strange; stranger than fiction._

- Lord Byron

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Two months later<strong>

* * *

><p>It had been two months since Violet had met Jacob, and her crush had turned into full-blown, obsessive, intense, all consuming love. She hated that he had not seemed to notice; she was afraid to make the first move, especially since it seemed as though he only thought of her as a close friend. For once in her lifetime, she was uncertain of her beauty and charm. It made her feel self-conscious, him not being aware of her feelings for him. Sometimes she wondered if he really had noticed, and was simply pretending not to because he had no romantic interest in her. It killed her to think of it that way.<p>

But he had noticed; and he felt the same way about her. Despite the fact that she was Kathryn's doppelganger, Violet was the complete opposite of everything Kathryn was, and he loved her for it. He loved every little thing about her. The thing that kept them apart was the simple fact that they could never be together. He was a vampire who had lost everything; he had died multiple times and yet he still walked the Earth. He was a monster. And she was an angel; a warm, breathing human being with the whole world waiting for her. She deserved a normal and happy life. And he intended to save her from Kathryn so that she could have it. Even though it could never be with him.

Violet stood in front of her locker, door open as she placed her books inside. It was Friday, and she was thankful for the fact that she had somehow managed to escape homework. She sighed as she stared out the large wall of windows at the rain that was falling from the sky. She had ridden here with Katy, since they had had an all-night study session for their difficult test in Anatomy. But Katy had fallen ill and gone home early, leaving Violet stranded at school. Violet had insisted that it was alright and that she wanted Katy to forget about her and go home. School was only five miles from her house, and she wanted the exercise, anyway. But now there was a torrential downpour outside of the school, and walking didn't exactly sound so appealing. She slammed her locker door shut and jumped when she noticed someone standing behind it.

She clutched her chest. "Jacob, don't scare me like that!" she complained, lightly smacking him on the arm.

He grinned. "Sorry."

Violet began rummaging through her bag, looking for the umbrella she always kept in it. She could not find it, and sighed in frustration. Tyler must have taken it out simply for the sake of being mean. He was always doing stuff like this to her; it was no use complaining about it to her parents, either, since her father did not care, and her mother always took her brother's side in every disagreement.

"Something wrong?" Jacob asked.

"My stupid brother took my umbrella out of my bag as a prank, and now I have to walk five miles home in that." She motioned to the small hurricane raging outside. "Oh well. Just another day in the fun life of Violet Mercer."

"I can drive you home," he offered.

She looked at him disbelievingly. "Really?"

"Yeah, no problem. I drove by myself today, so it's not like you'd have to endure a ride with any of my siblings."

"That would be great," she said, a smile of relief lighting up her face.

"I have something I need to talk to you about, anyway," he said seriously as he began heading out towards the parking lot.

She stared after him for a moment, surprised by his words. They were going to be alone together in his car. And he had something to tell her that seemed important. Her heart pounded in her chest with both nerves and anticipation. She wondered if he was finally going to tell her he had feelings for her. She crossed her fingers before following him out into the parking lot.

When they had reached his car, he walked over to the passenger's side, opening the door for her. "Thanks," she said, smiling at him as she set her bag down. As their eyes met, something between them sparked. In a heartbeat she had her arms around his neck, lips pressing tightly against his. And, much to her surprise, he kissed back.

Jacob felt terrible kissing her back; he felt like he was betraying not only her, but himself, as well. They could never have a life together, and it was wrong to get her hopes up. But at the moment, as she was kissing him, nothing had ever felt so right. And he gave in, pushing her against the side of the car and kissing her with all of the passion that had been building up inside of him since the first time she had smiled at him.

Minutes blew by, and they did not pull apart. He then noticed the sound of her heart beating rapidly, and realized that she could not breathe. Remembering that she was human and did need to breathe, he pulled away, much to his displeasure. With his vampire hearing, he heard her suck in a huge breath of air. She tried to be quiet about it, but he could hear her gasping for breath.

He smiled in amusement. "Sorry."

"It's about time," she answered, confidently flipping her wet hair over her shoulders as she got into the passenger's seat and pulled the door shut behind her.

He continued to smile to himself for a moment. He then remembered, however, that it was time for their long overdue talk. The smile fell from his face as he walked around the car and got into his seat behind the wheel. He watched her for a moment as she looked into the mirror, checking to see how much damage had been done to her hair and makeup between what the rain had done to it and what their kiss had done to it.

He hated the thought of breaking this moment for her; she had a perfectly normal life. Her biggest concerns were homework and how she looked, and now the boy she had feelings for had just kissed her. She was at a high point right now, and he had to knock her down. He started up the car and began driving toward the rarely used entrance of a hiking trail that he had driven by multiple times on his way to school.

"This isn't the way to my house," she told him, looking confused.

"I know. I don't even know how to get to your house," he lied, not wanting her to know that he had sat outside it every night since meeting her, keeping an eye on both the front door and her bedroom window to make sure that neither Kathryn nor her guards were able to sneak in.

"Then where are we going? If you're wanting to continue what just happened, you're going to have to at least buy me dinner first," she teased.

"There's actually something really important we need to talk about," he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Oh… alright then."

They drove in silence for a few more minutes until they reached the empty hiking trail parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, even more confusion etched across her pretty face.

He turned to look at her. "I don't really know where to start," he answered truthfully.

"Start at the beginning," she suggested.

He smiled sadly. "It's not quite as simple as that." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Violet, do you ever believe that the monsters in horror movies are real?"

"Of course," she replied. "Serial killers are real. I don't believe they travel through dreams or have multiple lives or anything like that, though."

"That's not exactly the kind of monster I was talking about," he said seriously, his face grave.

"Just get to the point, Jacob," she commanded, feeling fear not of him, but of what he was going to say.

"Vampires are real, Violet."

She sat there without saying a word, looking thoughtfully at him. "How exactly do you determine that?" she asked finally, caution in her tone.

"Because I am one." He looked at her helplessly, as if realizing that he sounded completely insane.

"Okay then. Prove it," she said, her voice dripping with an intense level of sarcasm.

"Open your door and take off your seat belt, first," he instructed.

"Why?"

"Because when I show you this, you're going to want to run."

She wondered how she was going to get him help. She loved him, and she would never dream of abandoning him in a time like this. But something was wrong inside of his head. He actually believed that he was a mythical creature. She would laugh at the thought if the situation wasn't so serious. If it were anyone but him.

Her mind went blank when he tilted his head back slightly, veins rippling across his face under his eyes as fangs protruded from within his mouth and his eyes went pure black. She gasped, freezing in terror and placing her hand over her mouth. Within the second, his face was back to normal, and he was looking at her with an expression of concern. Violet jumped quickly out of the car, running toward the direction of her house.

"Violet," she heard him calling her name after her, but she continued to run with all of the speed and strength that she had. She looked back toward the car to see if he was following; he was nowhere near the car. Nowhere in sight.

"Violet." She heard him say again, much closer this time. Suddenly, a pair of arms gently wrapped around her, stopping her from running. He had caught her.

"How did you-?" she gasped, out of breath and terrified. She remembered from all of the vampire movies that she had watched growing up that vampires had extreme speed. He was not lying; he really was a vampire. "Let me go, please," she begged, tears running down her face.

Much to her surprise, he let her go. She stood there for a moment, uncertain of what to do.

"Please don't go," he pleaded, gently resting a hand on her chin. "I don't want you to be afraid of me."

"You're a _vampire_, Jacob. Of course I'm afraid," she sobbed pulling away and turning her back to him. She knotted her fingers in her hair, squeezing tightly.

"I love you," she heard him confess softly from behind her.

She slowly turned back to face him, wiping the tears from her eyes."I love you too. But don't you know what happens to girls who fall in love with vampires? They die."

He was silent as she brushed past him, back on the road to her home. He watched her walk for a moment before calling out to her. "At least let me drive you home."

"Just stay away from me, Jacob," she shouted without looking back.

He stood in the street, rain running down his body, watching after her retreating back. When she had left his sight, he turned his head up to the sky, embracing the rain that ran down his face. He stood there, pretending for a brief instant that the warm rain drops were his tears; wishing, for the first time since becoming a vampire, that he could cry.

_She's right_, he thought to himself. _I am a monster_.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** What's this? Another chapter of _Dark Paradise_ in less than 24 hours? Actually, I spent a good part of the day writing chapters 11 and 12, 13 is about halfway complete now. I know I should really have waited longer between updates, but I couldn't resist. So please, if you didn't review last chapter because this one was updated so quickly, please review that one as well.

Now things are starting to get interesting (hence why I had fun writing 3 chapters today). Do you think Violet will come around? Do you think Kathryn will find her? Any other thoughts or questions? **Please review!**


	12. Human

_It's only love, it's only pain._

_It's only fear that runs through my veins._

_It's all the things you can't explain that make us human._

- Civil Twilight, Human

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

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><p>After walking ten miles home, Violet was exhausted. She drug herself up to her room, locking the door and stripping off her wet clothing. She threw the clothes onto the floor of her shower and began running a brush through her wet hair. She busied herself with towel-drying it, trying to distract herself from thinking about Jacob and what he was.<p>

She pulled on some dry pajamas and crawled into bed, shivering as she snuggled down deeper under the covers. She lay there, watching the rain fall against her large window as she dozed in and out of consciousnesses, finally falling into a shallow and fitful sleep.

She awoke when she heard a slight tapping at her window. She looked groggily at her clock. Eleven PM. That meant that her parents would be at the dinner party that they had been invited to by her father's boss, and Tyler was at his friend's house for the weekend. She was completely alone. Alone in a city that apparently had vampires in it.

She cautiously peered over the protection of her bedcovers to look at the window. Once her eyes cleared from their sleepy haze, she saw that it was Jacob at the window. The rain had stopped, and he was now dressed in dry clothing. She motioned for him to leave, but he shook his head in refusal. She rolled over in her bed, her back now to the window, and attempted to fall back asleep.

There was another tap on the window. She ignored it. Minutes passed, and still she felt his eyes on her. She pulled the comforter over her head, indicating to him that it was time to go home. Finally, after what felt like an hour had passed, she angrily threw back her covers, not caring that her pajamas consisted of only an old tank top and skimpy shorts. She was cranky, and he was _going_ to go away, whether he wanted to or not.

She pushed up her window, the pane cracking from the force she used. "Go away, Jacob. I told you to stay away from me."

"Sorry, Violet, but I can't do that." He paused, looking up at the sky as it began to sprinkle. "You should really think about inviting me in. I could catch a cold, you know."

"You're already dead," she said coldly. "You can't get in, anyway, unless I invite you. So just go away."

"Actually, I can," he said somewhat smugly. He gently pushed her aside as he slipped through the window, landing with a soft thud on her carpet.

"That's not how vampires work," she complained.

"Maybe not in the movies," he answered. "The only common clichés about us that are true are that we need to drink blood, and we burn in the sunlight. Unless we have these." He held up his hand, showing her his ring.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked, curiosity edging away some of her anger.

"Onyx protects us from sunlight."

"Great," she said sarcastically, fingering the pendant that still hung around her neck. "Then if I'm ever a vampire, this will protect me."

"Let's hope that never happens," he said with a frown, walking over and sitting down on her bed. "Violet, look, I know you're afraid. I was too at first. I still am at times," he confessed. "But me being a vampire isn't the scary part of this story. I'm not the one who is dangerous to you; I'm trying to protect you from her."

"Who?" Violet remained cautiously stanced by the window. If he tried to drink her blood, she would jump out of the window, roll off the overhang, and onto the ground two stories below. _Even if I die,_ she thought, _I would rather die by falling than at the hands of a vampire._

"Every story has a beginning. Where do you think vampires came from?"

"Hell?" She suggested.

He laughed. "Okay, yes. I was more asking how you thought vampires ended up on this Earth."

"The gates of hell burst open and you all crawled out?"

"I didn't crawl out of hell," he responded, a sad expression shadowing his face. He gazed down at the rug on the floor, sitting unnaturally still.

Violet felt a pang of guilt as she realized her words had hurt him. "I didn't mean _you_," she offered.

"I was only born a few years before you. When I was sixteen, my friend Bella met and fell in love with a vampire. Who you know as Edward."

"Edward's long distance girlfriend." Violet nodded in understanding.

"Wife," he corrected. "By the time I was eighteen, despite two years of my best efforts to dissuade her from becoming like him, she decided to marry him. I was disgusted; she chose her love for a living corpse over the life she could have had. They got married, and she somehow got pregnant."

"What?" Violet nearly shouted. "Are you kidding? That's so stupid! It sounds like some cheesy eighties movie or something. Are you kidding me?" Disbelief was etched firmly across her face.

"Strangely enough, no. I agree with you though; I laughed, until she stood up and showed me her very-pregnant stomach, despite only just getting married a few weeks before. That's not the important part of the story though."

"That's not? That seems pretty significant to me."

"It gets weirder."

Violet shook her head. Everything was getting way too crazy here. She shivered as a cold gust of air blew through the window. Noticing this, Jacob moved across the room in the blink of an eye and pulled the window shut.

"You look cold; why don't you get back under the covers?" he suggested.

"Because then I'd be trapped."

He sighed. "I told you, I won't hurt you. I promise I would _never_ hurt you."

"Because you love me." She nodded. "That's what all the vampires say before killing the human girls they love." She laughed bitterly.

"But this one is telling the truth."

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then walked across the room, crawling back under the covers. Though every instinct inside of her was screaming for her not to, she decided to trust him. She shuddered with relief to be back under the warmth of the covers. "So who is trying to hurt me?"

Jacob remained by the window, and the distance felt comforting to her. "Her name is Kathryn. She's your… grandmother, of sorts."

"Let me guess – an ancient vampire."

"You sure have a lot of pent up sarcasm."

"Please just finish the story. Some of us actually need to sleep." She yawned.

"I do too. Why do you think I always look so tired? I've been following you around for the past two months, making sure Kathryn doesn't find you and kill you."

"Wait – you've been stalking me?" She asked, sitting up in bed and staring at him in an expression consisting of both horror and rage. So that's how he knew where she lived.

He sighed. "Yes, Violet, overlook the part about your ancient vampire grandmother wanting you dead to complain about me stalking you."

"Well it's creepy," she said defensively. "And you _did_ just admit to it."

"Yes, I did. Now can we please get back to the story of why Kathryn wants you dead?" He took her silence as an invitation to continue. "Long story short, that baby killed Bella, and Edward turned her into a vampire. Only I didn't know she was going to make it. She was most definitely dead when I left that room. No heartbeat, no pulse, not a single breath... nothing.

"I was devastated. I was on my way home when I saw a cliff. Where I lived there in Washington, we cliff dove for recreation. So I thought I would jump off, land in the water. That I could just float there for a while and clear my head. I don't really know what I was thinking, honestly. The whole night is such a blur. So I jumped. The only problem was… it was from a much greater height than I had expected. And there were rocks down below, hidden by the crashing waves."

Violet stared at him, horrified. She felt tears beginning to form, the horror of what had happened to the vampire she was in love with tearing at her heart. That was how he died. Eighteen, scared, and completely alone.

"Kathryn had been following me. She was the one who found me; she jumped in after me and pulled me out. On my last breath, she fed me her blood. I don't remember any of it; the first thing I remember is waking up in a moving car. It was still night time. She was telling me to drink blood, but I refused. I didn't want to accept what I had become.

"She took me to her home, this large mansion in the middle of nowhere. She changed; she was kind when we met. But something was strange about her. So I tried to escape; only she came after me, kept me trapped there with her. I realized then that she was insane. She warned me not to try to escape again, but I didn't listen. I really wish I had."

"She came after you and hurt you?" Violet felt angry at Kathryn, wishing she had not put Jacob through all this pain. Vampire or not, he did not deserve any of it.

"No. I wish." Violet was about to ask him what Kathryn had done to make him prefer that, but before she could ask, he continued on. "The important thing you need to know is about Kathryn. She's an original vampire."

Jacob spent the next few minutes explaining what Kathryn had told him about the curse. "Only she lied about at least one thing, of that I'm certain."

"One thing?" Violet mused.

"Yes. She lied about there only being one doppelganger. Remember when I told you that she's your grandmother, of sorts?"

Violet froze, and it felt like there were millions of icy fingers grabbing at her body. "Violet?" Jacob was by her side in an instant, carefully taking her hand in his. The distance between them that had felt so nice moments before now felt terrible, and she was thankful that he had closed the gap.

"I'm the doppelganger," she breathed, terror infiltrating her body and mind.

"I'm not going to let her hurt you," he promised, a desperate look in his eyes. "I'll protect you with my life."

She did not reply; she instead pulled back the covers, indicating for him to get under them with her. He kicked off his shoes and lay down next to her. She cuddled up to him, pulling the covers up over the both of them and wrapping her arm around his torso. If he killed her sometime in the night… well, that was still better than Kathryn killing her as a sacrifice.

"I know," she murmured into his chest. "Go to sleep, Jacob. You look tired. I'm tired too."

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><p><strong>AN:** I just wanted to ask that you **please review this chapter!** The sooner I get a good amount of reviews, the sooner you get the explosive part 1 finale I have all finished up and ready to share! So many alerts and favorites, so few reviews. :( It makes me wonder if my writing is maybe not that good, that it's not worth leaving feedback?

Thanks to the small handful of you who have been reviewing, you guys are awesome! It means so much to me.

Brace yourself for chapter 13 - it's going to be **big**.


	13. Too Cold to Melt

_You won't recognize yourself, the things that you've done.  
>And you're too cold to melt.<br>And you've come undone._

- Data Romance, Bullets

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

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><p><strong>18 months later<strong>

* * *

><p>So the doppelganger was graduating from High School this week. How exciting.<p>

Kathryn nonchalantly rocked her spinning chair from side-to-side. She felt somewhat guilty about her plans to kill the girl, Violet, after her graduation. But the curse needed to be broken… she hadn't endured thousands of years of torment for nothing. She _would_ be with Alexander again, once everything was fixed. Kathryn thought herself very kind to even have let her doppelganger live for this long. It had been a year since she had discovered the doppelganger, after all.

It angered her that Jacob had not told her about the girl; but she supposed he had a good reason to try to screw her over and protect the doppelganger, after everything she had done to him. She liked him even more for that; despite the fact that she was an original who could easily crush him, he continued to stubbornly fight against her. It was sexy; she would be entertaining thoughts of him if it were not for Alexander.

Jacob appeared to be otherwise engaged, as well, however; he spent nearly every moment of his existence with Violet. The pathetic little human clone of Kathryn and all of her greatness. It humored Kathryn to think that Jacob actually believed that he could protect her.

"Kathryn?" Brynne stepped into the room, two guards at her side.

"Yes, Brynne?" Kathryn asked, turning her chair and slamming her heels down to the floor. She crossed her legs expectantly, putting on a mischievous smile.

"We have everything in place as you asked. We have as many guards as there are graduation guests; if the doppelgangers try to escape, the guards have orders to kill them all."

"Excellent." Kathryn's eyes lit up with delight. "And tell me… is the Cullen family aware of the situation?"

"No," Brynne answered, her smile now matching Kathryn's. "They have not told the Cullen family. The family believes it to be as simple as Jacob falling in love with a human girl. Just as their Edward and his beloved Bella."

"Are there any signs of her being back as a graduation guest? We already have one newborn to deal with; he can be taken care of easily, but with her in the equation as a newborn with those incredible powers of hers, our plans may not operate as smoothly."

"She does not intend to return; she will be staying at her school for the summer to continue taking classes."

"Good. And you remembered the rest of my plan?"

"Everything is set in place," Brynne promised confidently.

"Perfect." Still smiling, Kathryn stood up, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm glad to have such a great friend with such an amazing gift. Still no visions of the doppelgangers, though?"

Brynne's expression fell with frustration. "No. I still cannot see them. My visions are compromised by them being doppelgangers, of which I have never been."

"That is alright," Kathryn purred, pulling her friend into a tight hug. "We will still conquer," she whispered into Brynne's ear.

She pulled away, walking to stand back in front of her large office window. She gazed down at her vast lawn victoriously. "I always get what I want," she whispered to herself, a wicked grin lighting up her features.

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later<strong>

* * *

><p>"You have your tassel the wrong way," Jacob said, pulling the tassel over to the right side of Violet's cap.<p>

"Oh right; I forgot you've done this before," she replied, nervously peeking out at the crowd of people awaiting the start of the ceremony. It was her graduation day, and she was nervous. Not only was she worried about the common things graduates worry about (such as tripping on stage or losing her tassel as she walked), she also had a nagging feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.

"What's wrong?" He asked, gently pulling her face to look at his. "You seem distracted."

"I just… I have the feeling that something bad is about to happen." She bit her lip nervously.

"You're just nervous about graduating," he consoled, ignoring the fact that he had the same feeling. "Don't worry, everything will go fine. And then after the ceremony we can leave and go wherever you want."

"Meaning, you're going to hide me from Kathryn until I look too old to recognize," she translated.

He smiled. "Couldn't you just call it 'finding yourself' like other graduates do?"

"Not when Kathryn is calling it 'finding the doppelganger' at the same time."

"Places, everyone!" Mrs. Flora shouted, her and two other teachers beckoning students to head towards their respectful places in the line. Violet glanced nervously once more out at the crowd awaiting the start of the ceremony.

"It will be fine," Jacob told her again, placing a soft kiss on her lips. She wove her fingers through his hair, pulling him in for a longer, deeper kiss.

The loud noise of a man disapprovingly clearing his throat sounded behind them. "Break it up, kids. Arms length apart. Arms length apart!"

Violet turned to see Emmett and Edward walking up behind them, Emmett with a huge smile on his face. "Yes, Principal Emmett," she sarcastically obeyed.

He scooped her up into a big bear hug, spinning her around so rapidly that she grew dizzy. "Congrats, kid," he whispered into her ear. "First time graduating is always exciting."

"And what about the next few?" she teased.

"Much less exciting," Edward laughed.

"Come on little bro, you can see your girlfriend after the ceremony." Emmett grabbed Jacob, pulling him away, Edward following closely behind.

Jacob turned to smile at her as Emmett dragged him towards the front of the line. "It will be fine," he promised again, Emmett and Edward oblivious to the double meaning in his words. "Smile! It's your big day."

She feebly smiled at him, letting the smile fall from her face as soon as he had turned away. She found her place in line next to Katy, uncomfortable with the distance between her and Jacob. She always felt much safer when he was nearby.

"Hey! Big day! I'm so nervous," Katy said, pulling Violet into a hug.

Violet hugged back tightly. "I feel such a strange sense of finality," she confessed to her friend.

Katy grinned at Violet, flicking her friend's tassel. "It's a good feeling, okay?" She leaned in closer. "We never have to see any of these morons and assholes again."

Violet laughed, the tension she felt easing up slightly. "True. And I am _very_ thankful for that."

"I as well," Katy nodded with a wise expression. "Such a day of grandeur in which we all strut across a stage, taking in our hands the flame of which lights the wick of our futures; we burn brightly as newly lit candles, whilst we wear square pieces of cardboard upon our heads."

Violet giggled again, her nerves beginning to relax. She briefly caught her reflection in a mirror down the hallway from Katy, and turned back to it to check for one last time how she looked before she walked across stage with something stuck between her teeth. She met the eyes of her reflection, and reached up to adjust her tassel. Suddenly, her reflection smiled at her.

Violet gasped as she realized, with horror, that there was nothing in that hallway for her reflection to catch on. _Kathryn_ she mouthed, unable to find her voice. Kathryn grinned at her, disappearing down the hallway. The cap that had been on her head fluttered to the ground, leaving an unbearable void in its place. Now that Kathryn had left her sight, she had no idea where she would pop up next. Would Kathryn go after her friends? Her parents and her brother? Or worst of all… would she go after Jacob?

"Violet? What's wrong?" Katy asked, a look of deep concern on her face. Violet did not answer; she instead spun on her heel, lurching dizzily forward towards Jacob.

"Miss Mercer, please get back into your place in line," Mrs. Flora said, pushing Violet back into her place.

"No, Mrs. Flora, this is… this is really important," Violet frantically stuttered, attempting once more to move past her teacher.

"Miss Mercer, back in your place," Mrs. Flora commanded, for once not smiling.

Violet sighed in frustration, helplessly remaining in her place. She glanced around, searching for Kathryn. She stared at the back of Jacob's head in between glances, willing him to turn around. He had his back to her, deep in conversation with Alice.

"Just breathe," Katy whispered, giving Violet's hand a slight squeeze as the procession began heading outside towards the stage.

The graduates reached the stage, and the valedictorian began giving his speech. Violet felt as though she looked insane, her eyes rolling around in search of Kathryn. As the valedictorian continued on with his never-ending speech, Violet's eyes met those of Esme Cullen. Esme and Carlisle, who sat by her side, both smiled brightly at Violet. She smiled back. Then she noticed that the three men sitting behind the happy couple were equally as pale. With the camera flash of a proud parent, their eyes lit up with a brilliant red. They were vampires.

She looked around, realizing that there were vampires placed strategically throughout the ceremony guests. She looked forward in the line to see Jacob staring out into the crowd with an expression of pure horror. She followed his eyes to an unnaturally beautiful blonde vampire. The blonde was smiling at Jacob, threateningly revealing for a moment the fangs that protruded from her mouth. The dark haired girl sitting next to her was also smiling; these must be Kathryn's two best friends that he had told her about.

Violet continued to look around, finding no sign of Kathryn. Kathryn must have been hiding somewhere, waiting to strike. She tightened up, preparing to make a run for it. She looked towards Jacob, hoping that he would see her and realize her plan.

Their eyes met, and realization dawned on his face. _No_, he quickly mouthed. She thought for a moment on why he did not want her to run. Did he _want _her to get killed? She felt tears brimming up in her eyes. Nobody paid any attention to her tears, presumably believing that they were happy tears. She realized as she stared out at the sea of vampires mixed in with humans why Jacob had told her not to run. Kathryn had planned it so that if she tried to run, everyone in both the audience and the procession would die.

The ceremony ticked by at a painfully slow pace. The vampires in the crowd smiled pleasantly as if proud of their fictional graduating relatives on stage. As Violet received her diploma, the blonde vampire turned a camera to Violet, her companion gesturing for Violet to smile. Violet felt a fearful tear run down her face. They thought this was funny. They thought that ending her life was simply a fun game; to them, there was nothing horrific about this ceremony.

After what felt like years, the ceremony finally ended. The graduates began running towards their families, and Violet felt dazed in the crowed. Dizziness consumed her as she spun around, trying to find a way out. An arm wrapped around her waist, a hand covering her mouth as she screamed.

"It's me, Violet. It's me." She turned to see that it was Jacob standing beside her.

"They found me. They're going to kill me," she sobbed, feeling herself spiraling into delusion.

"Come on." He grabbed onto her arm tightly, dragging her through the crowd.

Through the sea of bodies, Violet momentarily met eyes with Kathryn's dark haired friend. She whimpered as Jacob roughly tugged at her, stumbling as her feet repeatedly lost their grip on the ground, just as her mind was losing its grip on reality. Jacob stopped short.

"Jacob! So nice to see you again," a female voice purred. Violet turned to see the blonde smiling seductively at him.

"Brynne. I wish I could say the same," he replied darkly.

"You look so dashing in a suit." She ran a finger down his chest as he pulled Violet against his back. "You know you're going to have to hand her over, right? After all, we wouldn't want to cause a scene."

The humans in the crowd had begun to disappear, heading off toward the parking lot to get pictures with their graduates. The Cullens, much to Violet's horror, were nowhere in sight. It was just her and Jacob now against the multiple vampires that swarmed around them. Unable to contain them any longer, the sobs burst from Violet's mouth as hysteria set in.

"Please don't kill me," she pleaded, peering at Brynne from her place behind Jacob. She gripped his arm with a strength that was inhuman, the kind of strength that comes from pure adrenaline and fear.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Brynne taunted in a sympathetic tone. "But that's not my decision to make." Suddenly, the evil gleam in her eyes went out of focus. "Go, go quickly now," she told them, motioning for Jacob to hurry. 'Kathryn will be here at any moment."

"Thank you," he told her as he took Violet's hand and pulled her off towards the woods. Violet watched in amazement as Brynne and the guards simply watched them leave.

Jacob let go of her hand and turned to her. "You're too slow. Close your eyes and hold on." Before she could answer, he scooped her up in his arm, bolting through the woods at a dizzying speed. "They're older; the older a vampire is, the stronger they are. But with my newborn speed, and my ability, we have a good chance at escape."

"Ability? Like Alice, Jasper, and Edward have?"

"Yes," he replied. "Back when I was… alive… I had the ability to shape-shift."

"What the hell?" she moaned, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and burying her face into his chest.

"Long story, not important," he told her, his voice showing no exhaustion despite his speed, the distance he had covered, and the hundred pound human girl he carried in his arms. "When I became a vampire, that ability heightened. I can no longer physically shift; I can put thoughts into the minds of others, however, and take thoughts out. Make people see things differently, or see things that are not real. That's why my eyes look brown to you; you see the eye color I was born with, while in reality I have the bright red eyes of a newborn."

"Have you ever used your abilities on me?" she asked, upset by the idea despite everything that was going on around them.

"No, never. You have my word," he promised.

"When you say you can take thoughts out… you mean like mind reading? Like Edward has?"

"Yes, I-"

His words were interrupted by an unseen force roughly crashing into them. Violet flew through the air, her head hitting the ground roughly. She lay there, stunned.

"So we meet again, Jacob," she heard a voice identical to her own drawl.

"Kathryn," he said curtly.

Violet looked up, her blurry vision showing Kathryn walking a half-circle around Jacob, eying him up and down in a predatory manner. "I'm sorry to break up your little love fest here, but your girlfriend has something I need." Violet whimpered in fear as she fainted, and Kathryn took a step closer to Violet's unconscious body.

"Don't do it, Kathryn," he calmly pleaded in a civilized tone. "She's your granddaughter. Your own flesh and blood."

"Precisely why she is the key to breaking my curse," Kathryn purred in return. "Do you really think I want to do this, Jacob?" For the first time since she had begun discussing these plans so many thousands of years before, she let the sadness she had always felt show in her words.

"She has to die," Kathryn explained sadly. "There is no other way. Don't you want your life back, Jacob? Don't you want to have everything go back to normal?"

"I can never have my life back," he said with hatred dripping in his voice. "You murdered my entire family."

"You did not obey me," she explained, as if that justified her cruel actions.

Something inside of him snapped. "And you think that's a reason to murder dozens of people?" he shouted, so much spite in his voice that she felt fear for the first time since her years as a human. She flinched away from the rising fury inside of him. "You cold bitch! You killed them _all_. My family. My friends. You killed my three year old niece!" She now saw a tear fall down his face, forgetting in the heat of the moment that it were not possible for a vampire to cry, and seeing that tear pained her more than any pain she had ever felt.

"I'm so sorry, Jacob," she whimpered. "I shouldn't have done it. If I could fix it, I swear, I would. If I could do anything to make it better."

"Don't kill her," he begged, gazing down at Violet lovingly as three guards ran up and grabbed him from behind. "Don't kill her, please. She's all I have left. Not her. Anyone but her."

Kathryn stepped away from Violet, walking over to Jacob and wiping the non-existent tears from his face. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this." She felt him trembling beneath her fingertips as she gently placed a kiss on his cheek.

As she did so, she pushed a needle into the vein on his arm, injecting the Dead Man's Blood that she had collected earlier that day into his system. She lowered his unconscious body to the ground, looking down at him sadly before turning to her victim.

She walked slowly over to her granddaughter of so many generations, the granddaughter who looked exactly as she did at that age. So young and innocent, with so many horrible changes that she did not deserve occurring in her life. Right at the age where she should be heading off to conquer the world, and instead was dying. Kathryn wanted to give this child a chance to live; she wanted to turn and walk away, to never look back. To remain a vampire forever, alone without Alexander, lost in her eternity so that the child lying unconscious before her could grow up, get married, have children. Grow old and sit on a rocker someday as she watched her grandchildren playing out in the yard.

But it was too late to turn back now. As she kneeled down, she noticed the ancient necklace wrapped around the girl's neck; it was the one that she had given to her daughter so many centuries ago, leaving it as the last and only family heirloom that she would ever contribute. She wanted her granddaughters of every generation following to have it. It felt like in that way, she remained a part of the family. And now, she was ending that same tradition she had started. She was, in a way, ending her own family.

She gently lifted the child's neck to her mouth, inserting her fangs into a vein. "I'm sorry, Violet," she whispered to the child as she felt her body temperature rising, the transformation back into a human setting in. A single tear rolled down her face as years of regret gleamed in her bright blue orbs.

She then sunk her teeth back into her granddaughter's flesh.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So what did you think? I've now revealed the answers to the two biggest questions I get; what happened to Jacob's family, and what his powers are. I had so much fun writing this chapter; I surprised myself with how dark I made it. This story is not over now; in fact, it's only beginning. So **please leave a review and let me know what you think!** **Especially those of you who never review**. I seriously have 25 people with this story on alert, and typically only get 4 reviews at the very most. Which I totally appreciate, of course, thanks so much to those of you who do!

Just wondering, do you hate Kathryn now, or do you feel sorry for her? What do you think will happen next? Chapter 14 kicks off part two of the story, so I hope you will continue reading on! Thanks for all the love for this story so far, I love you readers so much!

PS: Did you see my new icon? The girl is an actress who I edited the picture of to be Kathryn/Violet. So now you know how I envision her.


	14. Silent World

_God is cruel. Sometimes he makes you live._

-Stephen King

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

* * *

><p>Chirping. Birds were everywhere. It was like that old Hitchcock movie.<p>

Violet Mercer groggily blinked her eyes, trying to shake the heaviness from her lids. She was dazed, wondering where she was. She opened her eyes to realize that she were in a forest. Confusion filled her mind. Staring up at the trees above as their leaves shone beautifully in the sunlight, she realized that something was strange with her vision. Sitting up, she looked down to see that she was dressed in her graduation gown. And it was covered in blood.

She jumped up, crying out softly at the mess of blood trailing down her neck and onto her gown. She wanted to call for help, but was afraid to make any noise. Kathryn may still be out there somewhere through the trees. Violet ripped her gown off, revealing the beautiful dress she had picked out for graduation nearly two years before while shopping with Katy and their other friend, Danielle.

She ran her fingers through her hair, unable to remember why there was blood on her neck and what could possibly be wrong with her vision. She faintly remembered hitting her head as Kathryn had attacked. Maybe it was a concussion, and she was suffering from the effects of it. She then realized that Jacob was missing. Panic rose up inside of her, choking her and making it hard for her to breathe.

"Jacob?" She called out quietly. Surely he would not have left her. He had promised he would never leave her to deal with Kathryn on her own. He had promised to protect her.

She smelled something that was familiar. She turned her head towards the scent, somehow managing to maneuver through the foliage in her high heeled shoes as she used her nose to follow it. She could not figure out what the scent was, but she found something about it to be enticing. And then she saw him laying there. Jacob.

"Jacob!" She ran over to him, throwing herself onto the ground at his side. The scent; it was him. She had somehow picked up on his familiar scent through the trees. It was definitely a concussion that she had, why everything was so strange. But that did not matter at the moment; her concern was solely for Jacob.

He lay there, unmoving. So still, so pale. His skin looked dry, stretched tightly around his bones. She moved her hand to his chest, but with vampires having no heartbeats and taking no breaths, it was impossible to tell whether he was still alive or not. At his age, would he really look that bad if he were dead? She had never seen a dead body before. He had only been a vampire for a few short years; surely though, if he were dead, he would not look too bad. This could be that look.

"Jacob, wake up," she whispered to him. He continued to lie there, unresponsive. "Please, you have to wake up. You promised you wouldn't leave me." She leaned in, kissing him lightly on the lips with fairytales on her mind. Maybe the roles were reversed, but surely this still had to work.

He did not budge as she expected; his eyelids did not flutter. He did not moan. Not a hair moved on his head. The world was silent. She trembled as she lay down beside him, resting against his chest and wrapping an arm around him. Darkness began to filter through the trees. She had so many questions that needed answers, but she was too tired. She pulled herself closer to Jacob, burying her face in his chest and drifting off into a deep and distant sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Ring! Ring! Ring!<em>

Violet slowly awoke the next morning, this time remembering immediately where she was and the situation she was in. She wondered where the ringing was coming from, confused. She sat up, looking around. Her eyes followed the sound of the phone to Jacob's pocket.

She reached in and pulled it out. _205 missed calls_ it read. She hit the answer button. "Hello?

"Who is this?" She heard Rosalie Hale on the other end of the phone.

"Rosalie? It's Violet."

"Violet?" Rosalie sounded confused. "You sound different."

"Seeing as how you hate me so much, how would you even know what my voice sounds like?" Violet snapped. "I'm impressed, to be honest. This is our longest conversation to date."

"Is Jacob with you?" Rosalie asked, ignoring Violet's sarcasm in an attempt to find her brother. "He's been missing since graduation."

Violet looked down at his body, still in the exact same place it had been since she had awoken. "When was graduation?"

"Three days ago," Rosalie answered, sounding both angry and concerned. "Is he with you?"

"Yes, he… Rosalie, I need your help," Violet said, a hysterical feeling beginning to overcome her.

"Violet, calm down," Rosalie said with kindness in her voice. "Where are you? I'll come get you."

"In the woods. Somewhere north of the school. They chased us, we ran for… I don't know, maybe five minutes before she caught us. Bring the whole family, please. I'm scared."

"We're on our way right now," Rosalie promised calmly as she could be heard gathering the family in the background. "I'm going to stay with you on the phone until we get there, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you," Violet whispered, staring up at the sky.

Within thirty minutes, Carlisle, Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward had found Violet and Jacob. Rosalie saw Jacob and ran over, dropping to her knees at his side. "Jacob?" she said in a voice hinting at an oncoming panic attack. "Carlisle, something is wrong with him."

Carlisle, however, was busy staring at Violet with a look of concern as if there were something wrong with her.

"Carlisle, please help him," she pleaded. "I know there's something wrong with me, but please, whatever it is, he's more important. He's been like that since the night of graduation."

"Why didn't you call sooner?" Rosalie snapped. "He's dying!"

"Rose, calm down," Edward told his sister. "Anger won't solve anything."

Carlisle now knelt across from Rosalie, checking Jacob for any signs of life. "I… I honestly have no idea what is wrong with him. I have never seen anything like this before. It appears as though he is in a sort of coma."

"Coma? But he's a vampire," Emmett said as he wrapped his jacket around Violet's shoulders. "That's not possible."

"It apparently is," Carlisle replied, looking down at Jacob hopelessly.

"Let's get him home," Rosalie told her family, eyes glassy. "We can't just leave him out here in the woods like this."

* * *

><p>"Violet, darling?" Violet turned her head to see Esme standing in the doorway holding a steaming mug of something. Violet turned her attention back to Jacob, weaving her fingers more tightly through his. "I brought you something to drink." Esme slowly held out the mug.<p>

"No thank you," Violet said quietly, pulling the jacket Emmett had given her more tightly around her body. There was a coldness inside of her that could not be warmed.

"You need something to drink," Esme explained kindly.

"I don't. I can't. I just…" Violet sighed, looking back at Jacob's unconscious face.

"He would want you to take care of yourself."

"He's like this because of me," Violet said quickly, her eyes shooting up to meet Esme's.

"Can we go speak in another room?" Esme attempted in vain. She knew that Violet would not leave Jacob's side until he woke. _If_ he woke. She pushed the negative thought from her mind as she set the mug on the nightstand beside Jacob's bed and moved to sit next to Violet. "What happened?" she asked softly.

"We weren't going to tell anyone. It was too dangerous. But I think you need to know. For the sake of being fair, and so that he gets better." She looked down at Jacob with the purest look of love in her eyes.

"Tell me about what?"

Violet spent the next fifteen minutes explaining everything; spilling the truth out as Esme sat by her side, a comforting hand on her knee as she listened intently. When she finally finished, she felt a peaceful sense of relief wash through her body.

Esme smiled at her. "Thank you for telling me everything, Violet. I'm happy to know now. Jacob is my son, and I think of you as a daughter now. You are my children, and I want to know everything I can to help protect you. If there is anything else that you ever need to tell me, please feel comfortable in doing so. I promise I won't breathe a word of it to another soul."

"Thank you, Esme," Violet said, a feeling of warmth spreading through her body as she realized that she finally had the perfect mother that she had always desired. Who knew that she would find it in a vampire? "Would you mind telling the rest of the family? I want everyone to be up to date."

"Of course. I'll do so right now," Esme promised, pulling Violet into a quick hug before exiting the room.

Violet looked back to Jacob. "I'm sorry, I know you said not to tell anyone. But what other choice do I have? You're leaving me, and there's nothing I can do about it to bring you back."

* * *

><p>"Violet?" Violet felt a small hand gently shaking her shoulder. She groaned. Why was it so impossible to get any sleep with this family around?<p>

"What?" Violet asked, opening her eyes to see Rosalie smiling down at her apologetically. She sat up on the bed, and Rosalie moved to sit beside her, taking the spot Esme had previously filled.

"Esme just explained everything to us. About Kathryn, about the curse… we think Jacob may know how we can help him, since he spent all that time with her. But he's trapped in a mental coma as well, so Edward can't search his thoughts. And Alice can't see him. She can't see you, either."

"She can't? Has she ever?"

Rosalie shook her head. "She's never been able to see you. At first we thought it was because you had a mental block, like our sister Bella did as a human. But now we believe it's because you two are doppelgangers, and she hasn't been one. Even thought she has been both a vampire and a human, she cannot see any of you who are involved in the curse because you are special. She couldn't see Jacob for the years we knew him before he became a vampire; she thought it was solely for the fact that he was a werewolf."

"Werewolf? Yeah, he mentioned that." Violet sighed. "I haven't had the pleasure of hearing that story yet."

Rosalie smiled. "Your boyfriend here has a lot of explaining to do when he wakes up." She gazed at Jacob for a moment before turning back to Violet. "I'm sorry, Violet."

"For what?"

"For the way I have treated you. I was upset because your life was so great, and you were throwing it all away to be with a vampire. I thought that it was like Bella all over again. I wish you had told me the truth sooner. I would have understood. I could have helped protect you."

"It's alright," Violet said honestly. "I completely understand where you're coming from."

"Thank you for your forgiveness. I don't deserve it," Rosalie answered. She looked at Violet sadly. "You're so beautiful. You might even give me a run for my money now." She paused, and Violet wondered exactly what she was talking about. "I'm so sorry you didn't make it, Violet."

"Make what?" Violet asked. The cold chill was back, and she pulled the jacket so tightly around her shoulders that she felt as though it were about to merge with her skin.

Rosalie frowned, looking as though she wanted to cry. "You haven't realized it yet, have you?"

"What?" Violet grilled, now overcome with fear.

Rosalie slowly drew out a compact mirror from within her pocket. "I want you to stay calm, okay?"

"Okay," Violet answered, the lie evident in her voice.

"You promise?" Rosalie asked slowly.

"Yes, I promise. Please, just tell me what you mean!"

Rosalie opened the mirror, and Violet met the reflection of her eyes. They were bright red.

She was a vampire.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Are you happy Violet survived? That she's a vampire? What do you think happened to Kathryn? What do you think is going on with Jacob? Any other thoughts/questions? I would love to know!

**Please review!**


	15. Plan B

_Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide_

_how to play the cards in order to win the game._

-Voltaire

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><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>16 months earlier<strong>

* * *

><p>"Are you alright?" Violet turned to see Jacob enter the kitchen from behind her.<p>

She sighed. "How did you get in?"

He smirked. "Your mom let me in on her way out. Didn't even ask who I was or anything. You're lucky I'm not here to kill you."

"You might be," she answered. "Typical of my mother to just let a vampire stroll into the house and then leave me all alone with him. I know, I know. You won't hurt me. I've heard it before."She finished the glass of water she had sitting before her and then slammed shut the textbook she had been looking at. "What do you want?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, appearing roused by the fact that she still did not trust him. "Just checking in on you."

"Isn't it enough that I've let you sit outside my house constantly watching me for the past two months?"

His head shot up, and he glared at her darkly. She winced back in fear, but he gave no sign that he cared that he had scared her. "_Let_? Really, Violet?" Suddenly he was across the room, face inches from hers. "You need to get this through your head. You are _lucky_ that I watch you constantly so that you don't get your head bitten off by a psychotic original vampire. I'm terrified of her; every instinct inside of me is telling me to get the hell out of town before she finds me. To stay away from you. And yet I continue to protect you."

Violet did not answer, still eyeing him cautiously. She fingered the wooden stake that she had taped under the counter; she had stakes strategically placed throughout the house so that she would have a chance if Jacob or any other vampire tried to harm her.

He was suddenly standing behind her, his fingers placed over hers that gripped the stake. "Are you _really_ going to try and kill me?" he whispered in her ear.

She shivered at his closeness, the temptation to kiss him stronger than ever. She forced herself to resist. "No. I was not trying to kill you. Just preparing to protect myself if needed." She let go of the stake and spun the bar chair she sat on around, looking him straight in the eyes and smiling at him sweetly. There was an undertone to her smile that had an air of danger to it.

"Good," he replied, looking at her mischievously as though he were preparing to steal a kiss before turning and leaning against the counter across from her.

"So what's the plan?" she asked. "If Kathryn _does_ find me?"

"We run," came his simple response.

"And what if she catches us?" Violet questioned slowly, irked by what appeared to be a lack of a plan. She had no intention of getting sacrificed by Kathryn; if Jacob was going to protect her, they needed some sort of a Plan B.

"Good point," he said thoughtfully. He leaned over her empty glass, grabbing a nearby knife.

"What are you doing?" She glared at him strangely. Without saying a word, he dug the knife into the flesh of his arm. "What the hell are you doing?" she shouted, jumping back and sending the bar chair she had been sitting on crashing to the floor.

"Drink this," he offered, holding the glass out to her.

"No! Are you insane?" she shouted, alarmed. "I'm not drinking your blood!" She turned and grabbed a fistful of paper towel to help with the fresh wound on his arm. When she turned around, however, the wound was gone.

"Vampires heal quickly," he said, noting the alarm in her expression.

"I can see that." She felt dizzy at the memory of all of that blood. She looked down at the glass in front of her. "Please get that away from me."

"You wanted a Plan B? Here's your Plan B. Vampire blood stays in the human system for up to a month, depending on the amount. This amount will get you that month; if you drink my blood once a month, and she kills you, then you will wake up a vampire. Simple as that."

"And you drink my blood, as well," she laughed in a deranged manner.

"What movie do you think this is?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "You wanted a Plan B; this is the only option I can see if keeping you away from Kathryn fails to work. You will live on as a vampire."

He walked over and picked up her bar chair, lifting her back onto it as she managed to overcome the nausea she felt at the sight of him bleeding. "It's the only option I can see, other than being dead" he told her quietly, placing a kiss on her forehead before vanishing from the room.

The glass lay in front of her, tempting her.

* * *

><p><strong>Present day<strong>

* * *

><p>"Jacob?" Violet shook his shoulder again, getting slightly more rough than she should have. "Jacob, you have to wake up. You can't just… leave me like this," she cried, frustrated. She shook him again, this time not caring if she hurt him.<p>

He looked worse than he had at first; his eyes were now completely sunken in, his skin beginning to feel like paper. He looked so fragile, and she found seeing him like this to be completely unbearable. She was a vampire, and he was supposed to be here to guide her through the transition. And instead he was off in some unknown world, out of her reach and unable to help her.

"Violet?" The sound of a soft knock came from the doorway. Violet turned to see Alice standing there, calmly smiling. "We have a surprise for you. Why don't you come and see it?"

"I can't wait to see what it is, Alice, but I'll see it la-" she lost her breath as she was swung up over Emmett's shoulder and carried out to the hallway.

"We figured you'd say that, little sis," he said with a grin.

Alice followed behind them, beaming victoriously at Violet as Violet growled against Emmett's back. Moments later, he set Violet to the ground in the doorway of another bedroom before walking away.

Violet was irritated that they had taken her away from Jacob's room. "What?" she snapped. Rosalie walked up and placed her hands on Violet's shoulders, smiling as she turned Violet to face the inside of the room.

Violet gasped as she looked at the bedroom; it had a large king-sized bed in it with an ornately carved wooden headboard against a violet colored wall. Her name was designed in fancy lettering against the wall over the bed, and the bed had a beautiful champagne colored silk satin bedcover with matching throw pillows. The other walls had a soft lavender color on them, with an expensive antique dresser and an antique vanity, both of which matched the bed, leaning against one of the walls. The closet door was open and the light was on, revealing a walk-in closet full of brand new designer clothing and a wall covered floor-to-ceiling in a mirror. A bathroom that was well stocked with various soaps and beauty products also showed from the doorway next to the closet.

"She's speechless," Alice informed her siblings proudly.

"Yes, we know, Alice," Rosalie said, a gentle teasing in her tone. "And we commend you for such a great decorating job."

"I had a little help from you, of course you get credit too," Alice told her as Violet continued to stare at the room wordlessly. Alice walked up to stand beside Violet. "What do you think?" she asked anxiously.

"I…. I love it," Violet breathed.

"Excellent!" Alice beamed.

"We thought you would enjoy it, a little personal getaway from everything," Rosalie said, now standing beside Violet and giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "You have enough clothes to play dress-up for hours, enough beauty products to play with your hair for days… and one of the perks of being a vampire is you can't get heat damage to it."

"It's great, thank you guys so much." Violet pulled both of her new sisters into a hug.

"Ladies?" The girls pulled out of their hug to see Jasper standing in the doorway. "They are here now."

"Excellent," Alice repeated, this time with a nervous edge to it. Jasper took her hand in his, and they headed out towards the stairs.

"Who is here?" Violet asked Rosalie, confused.

"The Volturi."

Violet gasped as a look of panic spread across her face. "But they… they…"

"We thought since they were amongst the first vampires Kathryn created, they might be able to help us with Jacob. Come on, don't be so nervous. They don't bite… well, not other vampires."

Violet stared after Rosalie's retreating back for a moment before urging herself forward. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw three men draped in head-to-toe black. But not in a sexy or fashionable manner; they were dressed for business. They were dressed to kill. Their eyes met hers, and they stared up and down her body in disbelief.

"Katia," the blonde one hissed. The three of them crouched into defensive positions.

"No, Caius. This is Violet. Kathryn's doppelganger," Carlisle calmly explained. "I believe you are aware of the curse?"

"Ah yes, the curse of the original vampires," Aro said, his hands clasped.

"Vampires? You mean vampire," Violet asked, taking a step forward despite her fear.

"No, my dear, I meant that in the plural."

"If Kathryn is one of them, then who is the other?" Esme stared at Aro seriously, intent on figuring out what was going on.

Rather than replying, Aro began walking a circle around Violet, examining her in a way that caused her much discomfort. "Incredible. An exact copy of our beautiful Katia. Watch out for Marcus here," he pointed to the third man, one who appeared to be close to Violet's age physically. "He was in love with her; he may now try to pursue you."

Marcus jeered at Aro, expressing much distaste at the thought of Violet.

Offended, Violet scowled at him, forgetting for a moment her fear. "I think I am far out of his league, Aro. He is not good enough for me."

Marcus, looking angry, stormed out of the house in a blur of black.

"Pay no attention to him," Aro said boredly. "She said that to him as well. Such a fool for such a pretty face. But of course, you must follow in the footsteps of our dearest Katia. She apparently Americanized her name upon her arrival here. Kathryn, you call her?"

"What do you mean about me following in her footsteps?" Violet was outraged by his words, by the fact that he believed that she could ever be as horrible as Kathryn. "I am_ nothing_ like her," she spat.

"But of course not. Please forgive my words; I have misspoken. What I meant was simply that you must be attracted to the doppelganger of Alexander. I presume you have found him, yes?" The eyes of Aro were lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Yes, he is upstairs. That is what we called you about," Carlisle explained. "Kathryn attacked Violet on the night of her graduation; sacrificed her in order to break the curse. Jacob, Alexander's doppelganger, was already a vampire turned by Kathryn. He had been trying to protect Violet, and Kathryn did something to him. He is in a dormant state; we cannot wake him from it. We were hoping that you would have an idea as to why this is."

"Dead Man's Blood," Caius said, surprising everyone as he broke his silence. "It is her favorite weapon. It can place a vampire into a dormant state for as little as an hour for up to a full coma that lasts for years, depending on the dosage."

"How do we break it?" Rosalie asked anxiously.

"Where is he?" Aro asked. "Lead us to him."

Violet shot up the stairs to Jacob's room, crouching defensively at his side. The others entered the room, and Aro smiled at her, baring his teeth in a potentially menacing way. She felt a growl erupt from deep within her.

"Violet, they need to see him," Esme said gently.

Aro walked over and stood beside the bed, looking down at Jacob's unresponsive face. "Incredible. Exactly like Alexander. Down to every last physical detail."

"How do we help him?" Rosalie asked once more, anger and urgency showing in her voice. Emmett placed his hands on her shoulders, attempting to keep her from offending the Volturi.

"It appears that he has taken in more of the Dead Man's Blood than his body can handle. You must bleed it out," Aro said simply.

"How do we kill Kathryn?" Violet asked, the anger at Kathryn for doing this to Jacob now rising. She wanted revenge; she wanted to murder Kathryn for murdering her, but more importantly, for harming Jacob. She would kill anyone who touched a single hair on his head; what Kathryn had done now, in Violet's mind, had earned her a long and torturous death.

"There is no way to kill her," said Aro, appearing to be bored by his visit already.

"I know it is hard to kill a vampire, but certainly there has to be a way." Violet did not believe his words; there was always a way to kill anyone and anything.

Aro shook his head. "No; it is completely impossible as far as we are aware of. Believe me, we have tried. But when Madeline, the wife of Alexander, created the curse, she created it so that the two originals would live forever. Completely indestructible. When they began creating vampires, the demons that lived inside of them were not transferred; simply the physical abilities such as strength, vision, hearing. The demons keep their bodies alive no matter what, while our bodies can simply only give us a second chance at life rather than complete immortality."

"And that's why Kathryn never killed herself," Violet realized, looking at Aro for answers. "She never killed herself to escape her misery, because it was impossible."

Aro nodded. "Now if you would excuse us, we have other matters to attend to."

"Thank you for your help," Carlisle said with relief, already examining Jacob for the best place to start bleeding the Dead Man's Blood out from his system.

Aro nodded as he and Caius turned to the doorway. "Always a pleasure. And if any of you with gifts wish to join us, the offer still stands. Especially you, Miss Mercer." He smiled at her as he and Caius excused themselves from the room.

"Wait!" Violet called after them, using her newfound speed to place herself in the doorway so that she could block their escape of the house. "Who is the other original? Please, it's important."

Aro and Caius exchanged glances. "Why isn't it obvious, child?" Aro asked. He pushed her out of the doorway, and he and Caius moved to stand beside Marcus by the edge of the nearby woods. Marcus lingered as his companions disappeared into the woods, glaring at Violet menacingly before turning to follow.

"Violet?" she heard Rosalie calling. "He's awake."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I just finished outlining this story; I now know how many chapters there will be and what will happen. I think you will enjoy it. Please review this chapter and let me know your thoughts! What do you think of the interaction with the Volturi? Who do _you_ think is the other original? I would love to hear theories; feel free to leave a long review. Thank you all for reading and reviewing so far!


	16. Forever Cursed

_It is dangerous to exist in the world. To exist is to be threatened._

- Adam Levin

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><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

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><p>"<em>Bleeegh<em>!" Kathryn's shoulders rolled as she heaved yet another mouthful of black liquid into the bucket at her bedside. Adara took her hand, squeezing it in a comforting manner.

Brynne gently rubbed Kathryn's back, trying to soothe her friend out of some of her misery. "Is this supposed to happen?" she asked gently.

Kathryn looked at her friend with tears brimming up in her eyes. "I do not know. I do not believe so. I thought that I would simply revert back to human; a reverse of when I was turned. Something is wrong; I should be human by now."

"What if Madeline lied?" Adara voiced the words that they had all been thinking.

"She… she couldn't have," Kathryn said weakly, staring vacantly down at her sheets.

"It is possible." Adara's suggestion left the room encompassed by a silence.

"Her revenge for what I did was outrageous enough. She gave me what I deserved, but then so much more. What I have been through cannot have all been for nothing."

"Maybe we should ask her," Brynne suggested, eying the key around Kathryn's neck.

Kathryn wrapped her fingers around it protectively, glaring at her friend. "I have this around my neck to ensure she _not_ be released. Not so that I may release her for my own personal needs."

"This is not simply for your personal needs alone, Kathryn," Brynne argued. "What about Alexander? What about Adara, and me? We agreed to be your companions until you could break the curse, so that you would not be alone for the time it took you to find Alexander. But we never intended to be vampires forever."

"Nor did I," Kathryn said softly. "I want you both to be happy; you understand that, do you not? But Madeline cannot be released under any circumstances. It was hard enough to capture her once; if she is released, I will not be able to protect anyone. I do not know what she would do if released, but I know that if she were freed, bad things would happen. She stays in her tomb, no matter what."

Her friends nodded as Kathryn once more heaved over the bucket, a final tear running down her face before her skin turned to stone once more, her heart faltering for the second time in her existence.

* * *

><p>"Don't sit up too quickly," Carlisle chastised as Rosalie put another pillow behind Jacob's back.<p>

"Where's Violet?" he asked, voice raw from going unused.

"I'm right here," she said as she entered the room, flinging herself onto the bed next to him. She curled up against his side, pressing her cheek to his chest as she began to shake, overwhelmed with both the fear of what was happening and with happiness for the fact that Jacob was now awake.

Carlisle and Rosalie silently exited the room as Jacob put an arm tightly around her shoulders, holding her to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Violet," he said quietly.

"About what?" she asked, looking up at him with curiosity.

"I couldn't save you," he answered, a canvas of pure devastation painted across his face.

"Hey, hey," she said, sitting up to look him in the eyes. She took his face in her hands. "I'm alright, see?" She was not alright, horrified by everything that had happened and by her encounter with the Volturi. She did not want him to see this, however.

"You are _not_ alright," he argued, reading her as if she were a book lying wide open in front of him. "This is all my fault." He pulled away from her, unable to meet her eyes.

"No, it's not. It's Alexander's. All of this is his fault."

He laughed bitterly, turning back to her. "Aren't I him?"

"No, you are not," she said firmly. "And I am not Kathryn. We may look exactly like them, but we are nothing like them on the inside, Jacob. You remember that, okay?"

He did not answer. She sighed helplessly, running her fingers through her hair.

"You're prettier than her."

"What?" She looked back at him, caught off guard by his words.

"Kathryn. You do not look exactly like her. You look like Violet Mercer, the girl who is the only reason I feel hope. The reason I still feel alive. The sole reason my heart would beat if it were still beating."

"I love you," she said, the same way he had said it to her all those months ago as they stood together in the rain. She remembered the fear, wondering what would happen. All of the feelings she felt from that kiss. She had had no idea then what would happen; the changes her life would take that would be both horrifying and beautiful.

"I know," he smiled. "I love you with all of my heart; with all of my being. Our love will last until the end of time; I promise you that, Violet."

* * *

><p>"I'm going to miss you two so much!" Esme gushed, releasing Jacob from her grip of steel and turning to wrap her arms around Violet.<p>

Violet hugged Esme tightly back. "I know, we'll miss you too," she told her adoptive mother softly. As Esme pulled away, Violet smiled. "But don't worry; I'm already handling being a vampire fairly well. We will be back before you know it."

A few weeks had passed since Violet had become a vampire, and she was having some trouble dealing with it on top of all of the other stress she suffered from. Esme had suggested that Jacob take Violet to the private island Carlisle had bought for her. It was a beautiful home surrounded by peace and tranquility, as she had told them. It sounded nice to Violet, to get away from everything. She felt that if she could get away and take a step back, she would be able to sort things out.

Jacob grabbed the last bag that sat by Violet's feet, hoisting it over his shoulder as he grabbed the car keys that hung by the door.

"Jacob?" Esme called after him.

He turned back to face her. "Yeah?"

"You take care of her," she said, nodding towards Violet before turning and walking off into the sunroom.

"Don't I always?" he said with a grin, putting his arm around Violet's shoulders and guiding her out towards the car that awaited them in the driveway.

Seventeen hours later, Jacob had his hand extended to Violet as she stood to jump from the boat to the shore. He pulled the boat onto the land and began to grab their luggage as Violet stood gazing up at the house. It was exactly as Esme had described; already she felt overcome with a sense of relief. She felt safe here; nobody aside from Esme had any idea they were here, and she had Jacob to keep her company.

Jacob followed her as she walked into the house, gazing around with admiration at the beautifully decorated home. She carried her bags to a bedroom that was white from floor to ceiling. "No, not here," he stopped her as she began to set down her bags.

She turned to see that his nose was wrinkled in disgust, clearly made uncomfortable by the room. "What's wrong with this room?"

"I get the feeling something bad happened here," he answered, turning around and walking into the other bedroom.

"Like what?" She teased, amused by his strange repulsion of the room.

"Edward and Bella had their honeymoon here. And I get the feeling that something bad happened in that room," he explained, looking as if he wanted to change the subject.

"Oh…" She decided that she wanted to drop the subject, as well.

When they had unpacked, they settled into the couch to watch a movie. Although it was one of Violet's favorites, she could not focus on what was occurring on the screen. She thought about what the Volturi had told her, and decided that it was time to tell Jacob.

"Jacob?" She paused the movie, turning to look up at him.

"What?" His eyes met her, and he looked at her curiously.

"You know how the Volturi were the ones who helped you?" she started.

"Yes. What about them?"

"They told me that there was another original." She bit her lip as she waited for his reaction.

"Who is it?" he grilled, shocked by her confession.

"I don't know. I asked, but all Aro said was, 'isn't it obvious, child?'" She used air quotes as she mocked Aro. "Who do you think it could be?"

He frowned, staring up at the beams that went across the ceiling as he pondered. "I have no idea," he said finally. "But whoever it is, maybe they're the key to killing Kathryn."

"What do you mean?" Violet asked, surprised by his suggestion.

"Kathryn told me that she is indestructible. She can't be killed like other vampires."

Violet realized what he meant. "So you're saying you believe that this other original has the key to destroying her?" The idea was lovely; like music to her ears.

He nodded. "We just have to figure out who it is and where to find them."

* * *

><p><strong>Six months later<strong>

* * *

><p>Violet flew twenty feet through the air before landed gracefully beside the front door. She smiled, enjoying the fact that she had just flown through the air like Spiderman, minus the webs and plus the vampire strength. She had at first been reluctant to accept what she was, but here on this island with Jacob, she had begun to embrace it. Everything was easier to accept, seemed much more simple than it had back home. Things seemed to be falling into place for her.<p>

She had just returned from hunting and swimming, and felt tired from being on the go all day. She wanted to get Jacob and take him to bed with her, wanted to feel his arms around her as she drifted off into sleep. She felt truly happy for the first time in months. She wiped the blood from her mouth before pulling open the door, strolling into the house.

"Jacob?" she called out; he did not appear to greet her. "Jacob, I'm not in the mood for playing games." She frowned in disapproval.

Violet heard the door creak shut behind her and whipped around, eyes widening as Kathryn emerge slowly from the shadows. Her eyes shot daggers at Violet's as she glared at the girl who was supposed to be dead. "Good," she said in a mirthless tone. "Because I am not either."

She walked over to Violet, their faces inches apart as they sized each other up. "So let's get down to business, shall we?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I hate writing these chapters that are important but not exciting. But still, I hope you enjoyed it; at least we have a fun cliffhanger. Next chapter is a major turning point.

Thanks so much for all the reviews last chapter! I really appreciate them, I just have so little time to reply. Of course would appreciate reviews for this chapter as well, please? Thanks for reading!


	17. Happily Never After

_Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated._

_Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and corrupting your judgment._  
>- Orson Scott Card, <em>Empire<em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

* * *

><p>"Kathryn," Violet breathed, attempting to keep the fear in her voice hidden.<p>

"Violet Mercer. Forgive me for not formally introducing myself at our last meeting. I'm Kathryn." She extended her hand politely, looking at Violet expectantly.

"You will have to forgive me for not shaking your hand; I fear your monstrosity is contagious." Violet glared at her doppelganger bravely, keeping her chin up and planting her feet firmly on the ground.

Kathryn smiled, walking slowly in a half-circle to stand behind Violet. "_My_ monstrosity, you say? I am sorry, but I do not believe _I_ am the one responsible for vampires still existing." Violet suddenly felt Kathryn's breath on her ear and could not hold back the shudder that rippled through her body. "If it were not for you, we would all be human, getting our lives back right now."

"And I would be dead."

"Well, lucky for you, you do not have to worry about that now. I no longer wish you dead. I have something better in mind." She smiled, teasing the sight of her fangs.

"Where is he?" Violet asked, her calm façade falling as she realized that Kathryn had Jacob and intended to harm him.

"With Brynne and my guards. Somewhere nearby, but somewhere you will not be able to find with ease. But Jacob is not the only person whose location you should be concerning yourself with. Do not you wonder where Adara is?"

Violet was silent as she remembered Adara's grinning face at her graduation. "She's not with the Cullens, is she?" She suddenly realized in fear.

"Wrong. Guess again. You can have two more guesses; we will make it a game." Kathryn looked quite pleased with herself as she ran her fingers along the backs of the kitchen chairs, boredly eying the décor.

"My family?" Violet asked, relieved at the safety of the Cullens but fearing for her parents and brother.

"Now do you _really_ think that I would harm my own family? Mercer blood shall never be spilled by me. One more guess." She said the last sentence in a taunting manner, appearing to enjoy Violet's fear and discomfort.

Violet somehow grew paler as she stared at her doppelganger in horror. "Katy."

"Ding ding ding." Kathryn mocked the sound of a game show buzzer.

Fury shot through Violet's veins. "Don't you hurt her, Kathryn! If you hurt her, I swear to you, I will-"

"Will what?" Kathryn asked. "Even if I hurt her, I still have Jacob to use against you. Face it, kid. You have nothing on me. I win."

"Don't hurt them," Violet pleaded. "Please, they're all I have."

"Don't worry; I only plan on spilling the blood of one tonight. Now, who that is," Kathryn said, turning to Violet as she wielded a knife, "is up to you."

"What?" Kathryn's words filled Violet with disbelief as Kathryn pulled a phone from her pocket, dialing two numbers and connecting the call. She pushed the button to place the call on speaker phone before addressing her friends.

"Adara," Kathryn said as she heard her friend's voice. "How is New York?"

"It is excellent; decent weather for this time of year. Fairly warm."

"And how is your lovely hostess this evening?"

Violet trembled, feeling a wave of nausea as she heard Katy screaming in the background. "She is not having the best night," Adara shared with a tone of mock sadness as Katy suddenly went silent. "I would put her on the phone, but, well… she is a bit tied up at the moment."

"And Brynne; how is the young Mr. Black doing this evening?" Kathryn appeared to be enjoying her little game, watching Violet with a look of pleasure as she saw Violet trembling.

"Well why don't I put him on the phone?" The smile could be heard in Brynne's voice as she handed the phone over to Jacob.

"Kathryn," he said, his voice drowning with spite.

"Hello, love. How have you been? Aside from screwing me over by turning my little doppelganger here into a vampire, that is."

"You don't deserve a happy ending," he replied. "And don't you dare lay a finger on Violet."

"Do not worry; that was never my intention. However, it is up to her to decide whether she saves your life or Katy's." Kathryn turned to Violet. "Tick tock, Miss Mercer. I haven't got all night."

"What?" Violet asked as she lowered herself into a chair, horror etched in her face as she realized what Kathryn meant.

"You know, I've always hated that question," Kathryn said casually, strolling over to sit on the couch next to Violet's chair. She politely crossed her legs and placed her hands on her knees in a ladylike manner. "People always ask _why_, but it is obvious even as they do so that they already know exactly what I mean."

"You're trying to make me choose between the two people I love the most," Violet said quietly, her face now a deep shade of white.

"I believe it to be more than fair to give you a choice, after you made mine for me with your little stunt." Kathryn twirled one of her curls as she looked expectantly at Violet. As if she were simply waiting for Violet to make her move in a game of Checkers.

"I did no such thing, and you know it!" Violet shouted, causing Kathryn to look up at her in surprise.

"Why of course, you did. The two people I love the most… Alexander and myself. I could have lived on forever; beautiful, rich, and immortal. But instead I've known for the past three thousand years that he is the one person I consider more important than myself. And you took away my one chance of being with him once more." Kathryn leaned forward in her seat, elbows resting on her knees with her hands clasped together. "So I figured that I would give you a choice; make things a little more interesting."

"I cannot make this choice." Violet was frustrated, and fervently wished that she were able to cry.

"I hate giving you an ultimatum; but what other option is there? To just let you get away with what you did? To leave everyone you care about alone?" Pain showed in her eyes as she leaned even closer. "Do you think you deserve a happy ever after with Jacob, when I will never get mine with Alexander?"

Violet felt her voice choke, despite the fact that she were unable to produce tears. "I am sorry, Kathryn. I am so incredibly sorry that you did not get your happy ending. And I apologize for everything I have to do with that fact. But please… I'm all the family you have left. Let me have my happy ending. _Be_ a part of my happy ending. We've both hurt each other; we can consider ourselves even, and move on."

Kathryn sat back, looking thoughtful. After a moment of contemplation, she turned her head back to Violet. "Brynne and Adara are still on the line. You have ten seconds to decide."

Violet was hurt by Kathryn's words, petrified by the fact that she really had to make this choice.

"Five seconds, and they both die." Kathryn took the phone off of mute. As she pressed the button, a scream shot through the line. "Brynne, are you alright?" Kathryn asked, alarmed.

Brynne screeched in fury. "You little bastard, I'm going to-"

"Don't hurt him!" Violet cried.

There was silence from both ends of the phone. Kathryn looked to Violet, eyebrow raised.

"Alright then," came the sound of Adara's voice. Two clicks could be heard as she and Brynne hung up their phones. Kathryn slid her phone back into her pocket, once more politely crossing her legs.

After a few minutes of silence between the two doppelgangers had passed, the sound of the back door being ripped off its hinges rang through the house. Jacob shot into the room at a speed that was impossible to match, grabbing Violet up into his arms in that one fell swoop. She clung to him, coming out of her silent state of shock as she shook uncontrollably, inaudible noises erupting from her mouth.

"What did you do to her?" he yelled at Kathryn, holding Violet tightly to his chest in a protective manner as she continued to tremble.

Brynne rushed into the room followed by two guards, the end of her arm wrapped in the shirt of one of them.

"Brynne?" Kathryn asked, appearing surprised.

"He killed the other three guards, and then ripped off my fucking _hand_," Brynne spat, glaring at Jacob as she removed the shirt to reveal the bloody stump that her left hand had once been connected to. Already it was beginning to heal, but it was clearly evident that the hand was gone for good. "Just let me kill him, Kathryn. Let me rip his head off!"

She lurched at Jacob, but Kathryn tackled her to the floor. "Brynne. Brynne, I gave my word that I would only hurt one of them. The girl is dead; we are finished here."

"I am tired of being your servant, Kathryn," Brynne shot with an all-consuming rage illuminating her bright red eyes. "I am tired of living for you. What did I get out of it? Hundreds of lifetimes worth of misery, and now this? You are the most selfish person I have ever met. You only care about yourself and your happiness. What you want. I'm done." She shot Kathryn and Jacob both evil glares before disappearing from the room.

"What did you do to Violet?" Jacob shouted at Kathryn before she had the chance to react to her friend leaving her.

"Good choice, Violet."

Violet reluctantly pulled away from Jacob's chest, turning her head to meet Kathryn's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Choosing to save the man you love. That's the same choice I would have made. The choice I _did_ make." She smiled. "You and I are not as unlike as you believe."

And with that, Kathryn and her guards were gone, leaving Jacob and Violet alone once more.

* * *

><p>"<em>You can't attend the funeral; you realize that, right?"Rosalie asked softly.<em>

"_I know," Violet responded. "But I just feel like I need to go. To say my peace."_

_Rosalie and Alice nodded, understanding how their sister felt._

"_Where are you going?" Jacob asked as he walked into the room._

_Violet shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Home," she said simply, barely glancing at him._

_He nodded, walking over and kneeling by her side. He took her hand. "I'll come with you."_

"_No," she said immediately._

_He looked at her questioningly. "No?"_

"_I want to do this alone," she answered, pulling her hand away from his as she spoke._

_He looked hurt, and for a moment she felt compelled to console him. She instead stood up and walked toward the doorway, leaving him kneeling there in confusion. "I'll be fine," she said, going out and getting into her car._

_She did not look back as she drove away._

* * *

><p>Violet could not help but feel resentment towards Jacob as she drove away from the cemetery that held the fresh grave of the girl who had been her best friend since she were a child. He was already dead; he had already died multiple times. He was not supposed to be here walking this earth anymore. He belonged six feet underground, where he should have been since that night he drowned.<p>

She knew deep down that nothing bad that had happened to her was truly his fault; he had always been there to protect her. But he also always seemed to be there when bad things happened. She wondered what her life would have been like if he had never walked into it; maybe Kathryn would have never found her. Or, even if she had, Katy would still be alive. Everything would have been normal, minus the fact that Violet was not around.

She pulled into the familiar driveway, shutting off her engine and staring for a moment at the house before her. The Cullens had warned her not to; she had been missing long enough to be declared dead. They told her that her family was most likely trying to move on without her, and that her appearing with all of her newfound baggage would be too much for them to handle. But despite the fact that she knew that they were right, and despite the fact that she were not close to her family, she felt the need to come back to this house. She felt the need for some measure of normalcy in her messed up life.

She walked up to the front door and knocked. "Hello? Mom? Dad? Tyler?"

There was no answer from the other side of the door. She reached down to the fake rock that was kept amongst the real ones in the landscaping on either side of the porch, removing the key from beneath it. She pushed it into the lock, the door opening slowly.

"Hello?" She called out. She walked around the house, looking to see if anyone was home.

She smiled as she looked in all of the different rooms that she had not seen in so long. The kitchen that she had studied in after school while enjoying a snack. The television that she and Tyler would sit on the couch in front of, arguing intensely over who got the remote. She climbed up the stairs to see her room. When she opened the door, she saw that everything had been left untouched. Aside from a new pile of letters on her desk, that was.

She curiously reached down and picked up the letter on top of the pile.

_Violet,_

_I miss you. You have been missing for a week now, and the pain is unbearable. I know that we are not close, and that we fight a lot. You may not see it, but I love you; I love you more than anything, and I feel so helpless right now. All I can do is pray that you end up safely back here in my arms._

_Love,_

_Mom_

Violet felt a sob well up in her throat as she read the letter, noticing that it was stained with her mother's tears. So her mother really did love her; she looked through the letters, realizing that her mother had been writing to her regularly since her disappearance. At that moment, she wanted her mother more than anything.

She went on down the hallway to her parent's room. She would sit on their bed and wait for her mother to get home. She smiled at the thought of how happy her mother would be to see her. She could pretend for a few years, at least, that she were still human, and they could make happier memories together.

She pushed open the door and screamed at what she found.

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><p><strong>AN:** What do you think she found? Sorry this chapter is so dark and twisted; I promise it's for a reason. Thanks to everyone for reading! I feel like this chapter is one of the better ones, so reviews for this chapter would be much appreciated. Next chapter, I reveal who the other original is. I've decided to upload one chapter per week with this story, but no specific day. So the more reviews this story gets means you get to find out sooner who the other original is!


	18. Too Close

_It feels like I am just too close to love you._

-Chester See, Too Close

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><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

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><p>Her parents lay on their bed, motionless. She ran and jumped up on the bed, shaking her mother.<p>

"Mom? Mom, wake up!" She turned on the bedside lamp. The light cast ugly shadows on the faces of her parents; they had been dead for days.

She screamed, jumping back and falling off of the bed. She lay on the floor, stomach churning as the sight burned itself into her brain. Her parents were dead; she now had no chance of ever again having so much as a taste of the life she had once lived, the one she now cherished the memories of. There was no turning back; with her parents and Katy now dead, and with everyone else she had ever cared about in danger as long as she had anything to do with them, she was now truly on her own.

She suddenly thought of Tyler. She jumped up, running back down the hallway to her brother's room. She placed her hand on the door handle, hesitating to push down and reveal what was behind it. Finally, sucking in a deep breath of air, she pushed down…

"Violet." She turned to see Jacob standing beside her, looking at her sadly as he took her hand in his and pulled it away from the door handle.

"I have to know," she explained.

He shook his head. "You already know what's in there, Violet," he explained gently.

She trembled, collapsing into his arms. He held her, rubbing comforting circles into her back with the palm of his hand. When she finally gained the strength to pull away, she looked up at him angrily. "I told you not to come."

"I was already here," he told her.

"No, you were not." Violet felt confusion at his words. "I left you behind in Maine. I told you not to come with me."

His mouth slowly turned up into a crooked smirk, a twisted gleam in his eyes. As a shadow crossed his face, Violet realized that something was wrong. She pushed his arms away, and he did not move as she stumbled backward into the wall.

"I'm sorry, Violet. You must have me mistaken for my younger doppelganger. What was his name again? Oh, that's right. Jacob." He took a step forward. "Let me officially introduce myself; I'm Alexander Black. Sorry your family had to die," he said without any indication of true apology in his tone. "But your family is Katia's family. And I find it only fitting that after she murdered my entire family, I finish hers off as well."

Violet saw him remove a stake from inside his jacket. He roughly pushed her up against the wall, placing his hand over her chest with the stake between his fingers. "Please don't kill me." There had never been a darker moment in all of her existence than this one. She had never felt more pain, never imagined this much fear.

"How can I kill you when you're already dead?" he asked, their faces a mere few inches apart. "I need you for something else."

"What?" she questioned, leaning back into the wall as far as she could.

"I need you to deliver a message to Katia for me. Or, Kathryn, as you know her. My apologies, yet another slip up." He laughed.

"What's the message?" she gritted through her teeth.

"Tell her I'm back." He released her from his grip, turning swiftly and walking off back down the hallway. She sunk down to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest as she heard him descend down the stairs and exit through the front door.

* * *

><p>"Violet!" Violet awoke from a restless slumber; she must have fainted. She looked up to see Alexander kneeling down beside her, eying her curiously. She screamed, using her feet to shove herself along the hardwood floor towards her room, desperately scraping to get away from him.<p>

"Violet, what's wrong?" Rosalie, who Violet had not noticed, was at Violet's side within the second.

"Keep him away from me!" She screeched hysterically.

Rosalie wrapped an arm around Violet's shoulders, looking up at Jacob in confusion. Jacob began to go through the bedrooms; first in Violet's, which was nearest. When he found nothing, he moved on to Tyler's room. After a moment inside, he stepped back out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him.

"Who did this, Violet?" he asked, looking sick to his stomach. "Who killed them?"

"_You_ did this! Stop pretending you don't know."

"Violet, he's been with me since you left. He has never left my eyesight once," Rosalie explained, trying to calm her sister down while attempting to mask her horror. "It's _Jacob_. He would never do anything to hurt you. He loves you, and I think he has done far more than enough to prove that."

Violet was slowly beginning to feel more calm. "Alexander," she whispered.

"Who?" Rosalie asked in confusion.

"Alexander?" Jacob eyebrows moved so close together, it appeared that they were about to merge. "He's still alive?"

"He is the other original, Jacob," Violet told him as Rosalie helped her get up off the floor. "He murdered my family, and he wanted me to deliver the message to Kathryn that he's back."

Jacob looked at her, his expression grave as he took her words in. Then, without any notice, he turned and bolted down the stairs. Violet quickly followed, taking advantage of having a faster speed than him to jump in his path and grab him.

"Where the hell are you going?" She demanded to know, voice beginning to tremble once more.

"I have to find him," he said, an expression on his face that said his mind was made up and could not be changed.

"Violet, come on back inside," Rosalie called from the doorway. "Let's pack up the stuff you want to keep and get out of here." Rosalie saw that it was important for Jacob to find Alexander, and wanted to distract Violet from getting in his way.

Violet looked up at Jacob as a soft rain began to fall, matting her curls down and making her look even younger and more helpless than usual. "But what if he hurts you?"

"He won't; I promise. I just need to talk to him." He kissed her on the forehead before walking off into the trees, following Alexander's scent before the rain washed it away.

"Come on, Violet." Rosalie was at Violet's side, gently tugging at her arm as she urged Violet toward the house.

Catching a last glimpse of Jacob as he disappeared into the trees, Violet turned and followed Rosalie back into her childhood home for one final time.

* * *

><p>Jacob ran quickly after the trail that Alexander had left behind; not only was there the scent, but a few footprints here and there to guide him along. It seemed almost careless for someone who had survived in secrecy for so long to leave this sort of a trail.<p>

"Exactly," came a voice from a few hundred yards away.

Jacob quickly sped up, following the sound of the voice. He came out into a small clearing, and was not surprised to find himself face-to-face with a young man who was identical to him. The young man politely held out his hand, and Jacob took it without hesitation and shook it.

"I am glad you do not fear me. I suppose you already know that I'm Alexander, one of the original vampires. And of course, I am sure Miss Kathryn has filled you in on the curse."

"Yes. And thank you for not eye raping me as means to examine how similar we are. It's getting rather old," Jacob replied.

Alexander smiled. "I suppose it is." He leaned up against a tree, watching nonchalantly as the rain fell. "I'm glad you found the trail I left, Jacob."

Jacob nodded. "I assumed it was on purpose; nobody I'm related to would have been dumb enough to leave a trail that obvious if they wished to remain hidden."

"Yes, I figured you would appear sooner or later to rescue the young Mercer doppelganger. Which is what I wanted to talk to you about." He pushed himself off from the tree, moving closer to Jacob. "Stay away from her," he warned.

"Is that a threat, or a request?" Jacob questioned, unfazed by Alexander's statement.

"It's a warning. She's just a younger version of Kathryn. Do you not realize how much torture Kathryn has put both of us through? If you stay near the doppelganger, you will be crushed."

"Thank you for your concern," Jacob said. "But Violet is nothing like Kathryn."

Alexander smirked, slowly pacing around the edge of the clearing. "You don't think Kathryn was sweet and innocent when I met her? Because she was. Time changes people, and the people in that family don't exactly age with grace."

"I don't believe in mentality being genetic." Jacob looked at his ancestor sternly, unwilling to budge on the subject.

"Fine, fine," Alexander said nonchalantly as he fingered the zipper on his dark leather jacket. "But when she screws you over, don't say I didn't warn you."

"You killed Violet's family. Does that really make you any better than Kathryn?" Jacob felt no fear as he spoke, only a mild irritation that Alexander had remained in hiding for so long. If Kathryn had known that he were still alive, maybe she would have left he and Violet alone.

"What makes you so sure I was the one who did it?" Alexander asked, feigning offence.

"I know you did it," Jacob replied darkly. "How are you still alive? Kathryn told me that you were dead."

Alexander grinned mischievously. "After a few years of this -" he motioned to his vampire body - "I simply could not stand being anywhere near her. She had put me through far too much hell to keep her in my life. I grew to hate her. So, one day, I burnt a small tree to ashes and placed the ashes in a sunny place. Poured them over a pair of my pants and a shirt. Dropped my ring on top of the pile; like the cherry on top of an excellent plan. And she was actually stupid enough to fall for it. You might want to take notes, you know; you'll need to know how to get away from the little one someday."

Ignoring Alexander's remark, Jacob continued on. "I need your help."

Alexander turned to look at Jacob curiously. "Oh really? You need my help."

"There's something in it for the both of us," Jacob answered.

"I'm listening…"

"I need you to help me kill Kathryn."

Alexander raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "That does sound rather appealing. But it is not possible."

"It is possible. You are just afraid that I will use it against you once we've taken care of her."

"And why do you have your heart so set on killing her, anyway?" Alexander moved closer, his expression turning serious.

"Because she murdered my entire family. All of my friends, as well. Every. Last. One. Of them," Jacob growled, a raging inferno rising inside of him as he thought of Kathryn and what she had done.

Alexander appeared to be taken aback, all of his playfulness now gone as a fire identical to the one Jacob felt inside arose in his eyes. "Our _entire_ family?" He grabbed the trunk of a thick nearby tree, wrapping his fingers around it and crushing a large chunk of it into dust. He appeared not to notice as his anger continued to grow. "_Again?_"

"We're the only two left," Jacob confirmed with sadness in his voice and in his eyes.

"She's done it twice now. This. Is. War." Alexander spit the venomous words through his teeth as he absentmindedly turned yet another fistful of tree into dust. He suddenly appeared a mere few inches away, face-to-face with Jacob, a slip of paper between his fingers. "Here's my number. Call me if you have any useful information. That bitch is going to suffer; I _will_ avenge our family. Don't get in my way, Jacob." With those last words, before Jacob could ask what he meant by the word _again_, he disappeared off into the trees.

* * *

><p>"Are you alright?" Jacob looked over to Violet, who sat as still as a statue in the passenger's seat beside him. She had not said a word since he had returned to the house. Not a word since they had gotten in the car, or when Jacob had explained to her about Alexander and everything that had happened.<p>

She sighed. "No, I am not, Jacob. My best friend just got killed by my ancient doppelganger vampire ancestor, and then my family turns up dead because her equally as ancient ex who happens to be an ancestor as well as the spitting image of my boyfriend turned up and murdered my family. In what part of that do you think I would be alright?" She glared at him angrily, her last words harsh.

"I was just wondering if - "

"Don't, Jacob," she interrupted. "Just stop. Stop it." She placed her elbow on the door, squeezing her eyes shut as she rested her head on her hand. "I just can't do this anymore," she told him sadly.

He took her left hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "I know it's been hard, but we'll get through it. There has to be some way to destroy them. I don't believe they're completely immortal, no matter what Alexander says, or what the Volturi say."

"That's not what I meant." She roughly pulled her hand away from his.

He turned to look at her, confused. "Then what _do_ you mean?"

She met his gaze. "Just… this. Us. It's not working."

"So, you're saying…"

"I'm breaking up with you. If that's what you want to call it," she explained coldly. "I don't want to be with you anymore. We're just… wound in this so tightly together. I want to get myself as far out of this mess as possible, and step one is getting rid of the person who dragged me into it."

"I didn't drag you into this," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I was thinking earlier about how if you had never shown up, how much better things would be. My family would still be alive. Katy would still be alive. I would be dead, yeah, but everything else would be normal. You would have become human again; you could have gone back to your life. Kathryn would have slit her own throat because she was so miserable without Alexander, and he would be off doing whatever the hell he's been doing this past three thousand years. But thanks to you trying to be the hero and save me… just look where we are now."

"We're still alive," he argued, his voice rising despite his best efforts.

"No we're not, Jacob!" Her voice cracked as it rose. "We're _vampires_. The undead. We're not alive, and we're not dead either. We're in some sort of nightmare limbo. And I don't want to be stuck in it with you. I just want you out of my life. Would you pull this damn car over?"

"Violet, how can you say that?" he asked, now practically shouting as the car skidded to a halt on a bridge that rose high above a river below. "I _love you_."

"Jacob, why can't you get it?" she demanded to know. "_I_ don't love _you_." She slammed the car door shut behind her. Rosalie pulled up behind them in Violet's car, rolling down the window to ask if everything was alright. Jacob watched as Violet got in the car with Rosalie, and they slowly took off, continuing down the road.

He remained behind, parked on the bridge, sitting silently in his car as he watched Violet's grow smaller and smaller before disappearing off into the distance. He pushed his finger to his ribs, trying to find the heartbeat that would explain his pain.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So, what do you think? Do you like Alexander? Hate him? Waiting to pass judgment? And what are your thoughts on Violet now? Please review! Big stuff happened in this chapter, so reviews with your thoughts on it all would be awesome. With all the people following the story, could I please have at least 5 reviews? That would be amazing!

By the way, if you haven't heard Too Close by Chester See (the song quoted in the beginning), you must check it out! It's incredible.


	19. World For Two

_They say that the world was built for two; only worth living if somebody is loving you._

-Lana Del Rey

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Two months later<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Ding-dong!<em>

The doorbell echoed through the vast hallways of the Cullen mansion.

"Violet, Emmett, can one of you get that?" Esme called out to the two family members who were nearest to the front door.

"In a minute, Esme," Emmett shouted back, straining to push Violet's arm down onto the living room coffee table. "I'm going to win," he grinned at her as he pushed with all his strength.

"You wish," she grinned back, his hand wobbling to the side as she teased him, knowing that she could easily win.

"You two had better not be arm wrestling on my coffee table," came Esme's voice once more. "That was imported from France, you know. Custom made."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Emmett mumbled, straining against Violet's newborn strength. Violet sighed, realizing that this match was going to have to end in order for the door to be answered. She let him slam her arm down, pulling it onto the floor in order to avoid the table being smashed.

"Yes!" He shouted, jumping up and down. "_You_ get the door, loser," he laughed, dancing out of the room and down the hallway. She smiled after her adoptive brother before standing up from her spot on the floor and strolling over to the front door.

"Sorry for the wai-" her apology to their guest was cut short when she saw who it was.

"Hello, doppelganger," Kathryn beamed, pushing Violet out of the way as she entered the house.

"What are those for?" Violet asked, noticing the two bags Kathryn had in her hands.

"You are currently the only member of my family who has _not_ been murdered. I am here to protect you," she said with a strange perkiness in her tone.

"I don't want you here to protect me," Violet scowled, confused by Kathryn's sudden friendliness.

"Want me or not, I am here to stay. So, where is the guest room?"

"Kathryn." Both girls looked up to see Jacob standing at the top of the staircase, a look of pure distaste across his face.

Kathryn noticed Violet quickly look away and smirked. "Trouble in paradise?" she asked, looking from Violet to Jacob. Since returning home on the night that Alexander had made his reappearance, Jacob had been struggling to fix his relationship with Violet. She continued to push him away, however, ignoring his attempts to make things right.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded to know as he quickly made his way down the staircase.

"I am simply here to protect my closest of kin. You can be a gentleman about it, or you can stay out of my way. Your choice."

"No, my choice would be you leaving." He stood in her way as she attempted to enter further into the home.

"What is going on here?" Esme asked as she and Carlisle entered the room. They both stopped short when they saw Kathryn.

"Hello," Kathryn greeted pleasantly. "You must be Carlisle and Esme."

"What is she doing here?" Esme questioned, eyes darting between Jacob and Violet.

"Leaving," Jacob replied, attempting to coax Kathryn back out the door. She shoved past him, setting down her bags as she outstretched her hand to Esme.

Esme looked at Kathryn's hand hesitantly before reaching out to quickly shake it. Carlisle did the same, appearing displeased with the situation yet clearly fascinated at the same time by the genetic makeup of both the girls.

"I sincerely hope that the two of you do not mind, but I intend to stay here with your family so that I may look after Violet here. I hope you understand; family has always been very important to me."

Violet scoffed. "Yes, and so you murder my best friend."

"What was it you suggested?" Kathryn pretended as though she were struggling to remember. "I believe your exact words were, 'we've both hurt each other; we can consider ourselves even, and move on.' Well I'm here for that now."

"Sorry, that offer no longer stands. You _are_ welcome to leave and never come back, though," Violet suggested, mocking Kathryn's friendly tone.

"You are welcome to stay here with us, Kathryn," Carlisle offered, surprising everyone else in the room.

"What?" Jacob and Violet shouted in unison.

"Are you joking?" Jacob asked angrily. "She's a psychotic, homicidal bitch. I don't want her here."

Carlisle looked at Jacob, clearly taking advantage of Jacob's powers to relay a mental message to him. After a moment, Jacob sighed in frustration. "I still don't like it." He exited the room without any further argument, disappearing through the kitchen.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Carlisle," Kathryn smiled.

"Let me show you to your room so that you can get settled in and freshen up after your journey." Carlisle took her bags and led her up the grand staircase, giving her a tour of the house as they made their way to the guest bedroom.

Violet looked at Esme with a frown on her face. "I don't like this."

Esme's frown matched that of Violet. "Neither do I."

* * *

><p>Violet turned her head towards the doorway of her bedroom, looking to find the source of the knock she had just heard. "Go away, Jacob," she sighed as she turned her back to him, continuing to fold the pile of laundry that lay on her bed.<p>

"No. I'm not just going to 'go away,' he said, his voice now coming from a position beside her. "Everything was fine between us, and then suddenly, out of the blue, you tell me you hate me. I don't even know where that came from. If you want me to leave you alone, you're going to have to give me some answers. Convince me."

She threw the shirt that was in her hands down, angrily turning to face him. "I didn't say I hated you, Jacob. I just said that I don't love you anymore. I don't see what's so hard to understand about that."

Did Kathryn threaten you?" he asked quietly, checking to be sure that Kathryn was not hovering near the doorway.

"What?"

"On Isle Esme. Did she threaten you to act like this? To pretend you want nothing to do with me?"

Violet shook her head. "No. No, it's nothing like that."

"You can tell me. Whatever she threatened to do to you, I promise I'll stop her. I won't let her hurt you."

Violet laughed bitterly. "I've heard that one before."

He looked at her in confusion, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"I just don't love you anymore, okay?" Her voice was gentle as she tried to explain, hoping to get through to him. "I was sixteen when we met. You were so mysterious; I wanted to figure you out. It was just a high school crush that escalated _way_ out of control with this whole vampire mess. And I'm over you now. You don't mean anything to me anymore. End of story, simple as that."

"Ouch," came a voice from the doorway. Both of them turned to see Kathryn leaning against the doorway, Violet thankful for once to see her; grateful that she were here to interrupt this moment that Violet had been trying so hard to avoid.

Ignoring her, Jacob turned back to look at Violet. "I don't believe that's it. There's something you're not telling me, and I _will_ figure it out. And then I promise you that I will make whatever it is go away."

"So sweet; such a hopeless romantic," Kathryn jeered.

Jacob rolled his eyes, moving to push past her. She pushed him against the doorway, gazing at him innocently. "If I were your girlfriend, I would appreciate you." She playfully batted her eyelashes.

"Hospitality: making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were," he retorted, pushing her hand off of his chest as he made his way towards the staircase.

She watched after him with a smile on her face until he had descended the staircase and was out of her sight. She then turned, moving to sit on the edge of Violet's bed as Violet continued to fold her laundry. "Here, I'll help," she offered, picking up and beginning to fold one of Violet's shirts.

"Thanks. Because that makes up for everything you've done to me."

Kathryn's expression turned serious at Violet's sarcastic remark. "Look, Violet. I know I was wrong in what I did to your friend-"

"Katy," Violet gritted as she slid her favorite blouse onto a hanger. "Her name was Katy."

"I am sorry for what I did to Katy," Kathryn corrected as Violet disappeared into her closet with the blouse. "I'm trying to make up for it, though. Whatever I can do to make you not hate me, I will do it."

"Why?" Violet asked as she emerged from the closet. "Why would you care whether or not I hate you? You clearly haven't cared before."

"Because like I said, Violet; you are the only family I have left. And I do not want you to hate me."

"Well it's too late for that. By the way," she sneered as she changed the subject. "I have a message for you."

Kathryn looked at Violet in wonderment. "From who?"

"Alexander." Violet smiled tauntingly at Kathryn as Kathryn's face went ghastly white.

"He… he is dead." Kathryn stared at the wall, her shock so intense that Violet could feel it.

"Nope. He didn't really have much to say to me since, you know, he was busy killing my family." Violet threw a bra into her dresser drawer before continuing on. "He did tell me, though, to give you the message that he is back."

Did he say anything else?" Kathryn's voice barely passed for a whisper.

"Nope," Violet lied. "I guess you're just going to have to wait to find out for yourself. Unless, of course, he continues to hide from you like he has for the past few dozen centuries."

"So what do you want?" Violet asked Kathryn after a few minutes passed in silence. "You came in here for something, right?"

Kathryn looked up, a grin back on her face. "I was just wondering, when school starts up, do you want to pretend to be twins? Or did you want to take turns pretending to be the same person? I think that both would be fun."

"You sure rebound quickly from bad news."

"Well why wouldn't I? If he wanted you to tell me he's back, then that means that he wants me back in his life. He will turn up eventually; in the meantime, I shall stay here where he can easily find me."

"What if he wants to hurt you?"

Kathryn stopped twirling the strand of hair she had wrapped around her finger, gazing thoughtfully up at the crown molding. "We will see," she finally answered.

She stood up from her spot on the bed, walking towards the door. She hesitated, placing a hand on the doorway as she turned to look back at Violet. Their eyes met, and for that moment they were staring into each other's souls. None of the hatred, none of the jeering; nothing was there in that gaze aside from two lost and lonely girls trying to find an understanding.

"I really, sincerely apologize for everything I have done to you," Kathryn said, and Violet believed her.

"That still doesn't make it alright," Violet responded, wishing it did.

"I know," Kathryn stated, leaving Violet standing alone in her empty bedroom.

Violet fingered the onyx pendant that had always hung around her neck, absentmindedly gazing out the window at the light rain that ran down it as she contemplated what to do with her newfound knowledge that Kathryn sincerely wanted her forgiveness. And, more importantly, wanted one remaining relative to rely on when the rest of the world was growing dark. Violet realized at that moment that the world simply was not worth existing in if it meant that she would be forever alone.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I apologize if this chapter seems a little strange; I had things I wanted to happen but wasn't sure how to approach them. Hopefully I wrote this chapter in a way that you enjoyed reading it. I also apologize for the delay in updating and responding to reviews; it's been a busy week. Please review and let me know what you think! It would mean the world to me. Thanks for reading!


	20. Streetlight

_You are like a streetlight in a dark view._

_That I hoped was the end, but blinded me instead._

- Data Romance_  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

* * *

><p>"Sir, you have a visitor," Gianna announced as she entered the throne room of the Volturi. The three men, normally calm and confident, curled back in their chairs, their guards defensively jumping in front of the trio to protect them from the woman who followed behind their secretary.<p>

"Brynne," Aro hissed.

"Aro," she said coyly. "So good to see you again. It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"Don't come any closer," Jane warned.

Brynne took a step closer, taunting her. Jane's eyes turned even darker than usual as she used her powers full force, trying her best to send Brynne to the floor in agony.

Brynne laughed. "Cute trick. That tickles."

Jane, appearing to be surprised, took a step back.

"What do you want, Brynne?" asked Marcus, attempting to appear fearless while it was obvious he did indeed feel fear.

"I want to join your side," she answered simply. When the ancient trio chose to simply stared at her rather than reply, she sighed, continuing on. "Three thousand years of being Kathryn's little assistant has grown rather old. As you all, of course, are aware of. I know everything that she has been up to; I am here to give you that information and help you use it to destroy her."

"Such a sudden change of heart," Aro drawled as he contemplated what her true intentions could be.

"She is still my best friend, yes, but she has become somewhat infatuated with the younger doppelganger. Her judgment is clouded, and her decisions have become rash."

"And could the missing hand have anything to do with it?" Caius jeered.

"Again, the boy. I want him destroyed; I want my revenge. And I am here to help you in any way that I can."

"And what information do you have that could be of any use to us?" Aro appeared to relax slightly, leaning comfortably back in his seat.

"Alexander is not dead as we thought; rather, it appears, he is doing quite well." The Volturi all leaned in closer, their fear now banished by curiosity. "I found him by the home of the female doppelganger when I went to her hometown to search for information on the two. School records, and anything about her at her childhood home. He beat me to the house, however. I watched as he murdered her family and waited for her to return; he then told her something. I am not sure what, but I imagine he is searching for Kathryn. And you know what will happen if the two of them begin working together once more."

"We lose the reigns to our kingdom," Aro nodded. "And the original king and queen take over once more."

"Right," she replied. "So do you want my help or not?"

The three men conversed with their eyes for a moment before Aro turned to reply. "Yes. We will take it."

"Good," she smiled. "Because I have a theory on how to destroy them."

* * *

><p><strong>One month later<strong>

* * *

><p>"Okay, Carlisle, she's been here for a month now. How much longer do you plan to let her stay?"<p>

"I've told you, Jacob, she is welcome to stay as long as she wants," Carlisle answered. "I understand that this is rough for you after everything she has put you through-"

"You have no idea," Jacob interrupted bitterly.

"But we cannot afford to have her dislike us. The Volturi are still upset with us over Renesmee; tensions are still high. Kathryn is an ally worth having. She appears to be on our side, at least for now. Let's keep it that way. We do not need any more enemies."

"But she's _evil_," Jacob argued, still unable to find the ability within himself to tell anyone what Kathryn had done to him. He was also upset by the fact that she enjoyed playfully flirting with him, as if to taunt him of the fact that Violet was still pushing him away.

"She stays," Carlisle said firmly.

"Fine. Then I go," Jacob retorted, quickly walking out of Carlisle's office and up to his bedroom on the third floor.

When he got to his room, he grabbed his large suitcase from the shelf in the closet, angrily throwing it onto his bed. He grabbed clothes from the closet, throwing them into the suitcase without folding them, in a hurry to get out of the house where the two Mercer women were driving him crazy.

"Where are you going?" came a voice from the doorway. He turned to see Rosalie standing there, arms folded across her chest with a frown of disapproval on her face.

"I have to get out of here," he answered. "They're driving me crazy."

Rosalie nodded in understanding. "I really wish you would rethink leaving, though. We can find a way to work it out if you stay."

"After what she's done to me-"

"All that time you were missing," Rosalie nodded. "She killed your family."

Jacob froze with two shirts balled up in his hands, turning slowly to face her. "How did you know?"

"Maybe nobody else in this family does, but I like to keep track of what's going on in all of the cities we rotate between. I saw it in the news. I just didn't want to say anything. I did not feel as though it were my place to bring it up."

"Thank you for that," he said seriously. After a moment, wanting to change the subject before he grew even more upset, he smiled at her. "Remember how much we used to hate each other? And here a few years later, you're my favorite sister."

She smiled back. "Yes, I remember. But please don't tell me any more blonde jokes."

"Oh, I haven't done that in a while, I have I?" He paused dramatically. "Did you hear about the blonde couple who froze to death at the drive-in theater? They went to see "closed for the winter."

"I've heard that one," came her age-old reply as she tried to force a scowl onto her face. "Here," she said, handing him a pair of keys and a slip of paper. "I've been ready for this since Kathryn arrived."

"What is this?" he questioned, noting that there was an address on the paper.

"I have a small home in Southern California that I have not told anyone about. These are the keys, and this is the address. Go there, and I will let you know when she leaves so that you will know that it is safe to come home."

"Thank you so much," he answered, relieved that he now had a place to hide out.

"Any time, little bro," she smiled as she exited the room.

Fifteen minutes later, Jacob was speeding down the highway on his way to Rosalie's secret home. He was leaving everything behind; the Cullens, Kathryn, all of his problems… Violet. He thought of her guiltily for a moment, remembering his promise to stay by her side always and keep her safe. But then the words she had said to him dozens of times in the past few months echoed in his head.

_I don't love you anymore._

He pushed his foot down harder onto the gas pedal.

* * *

><p><strong>Two months later<strong>

* * *

><p>"Trust me," that dress looked really good on you," Kathryn assured Violet as Alice drove her Porsche into the garage.<p>

"Are you sure?" Violet asked, uncertainty showing on her face.

"Of course I am. Everything looks good on _me_; that means that everything looks good on _you_, as well."

The three of them laughed. "I'm just glad to have you two as shopping buddies," Alice told them. "Bella and Esme don't like to shop, and when I asked Rosalie today she was all, 'no, we just went shopping two days ago, Alice'." She scoffed. "Like there's such thing as too much shopping or something."

The family had been hesitant to accept Kathryn, but once they saw Violet accept her into their home, they all followed suit. Only Esme and Rosalie still appeared to dislike her. Violet and Alice believed it was because she was the reason that Jacob had left weeks before.

Violet was unsure of how she felt about him leaving; there was a part of her that was happy that she did not have to see him, because it meant that she did not have to feel guilty for breaking his heart. Another part of her, however, always looked at the front porch upon arriving home, a glimmer of hope inside her that he would be waiting there for her. She always pushed these thoughts away quickly, but not before the hurt at the thought of him never returning set in. Even though she no longer loved him, she still cared deeply for him.

"Are you alright, Violet?" Kathryn questioned, noticing that she was off in her own little world.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You guys go ahead and go inside; I'm going to sit outside for a few minutes. It's peaceful out here."

"Alright," Alice nodded, and they entered the house with their shopping bags. Violet watched them disappear into the house before she turned and began slowly strolling into the woods. It was nice out here; as a child, she had always wandered into the woods behind her house to be alone and find some peace of mind. She had done it her whole life when she needed to clear her head.

Suddenly, two pairs of hands grabbed her, throwing her against a tree trunk. She gasped with surprise, shaking her head to remove the stars from her eyes. She looked up to see Marcus standing above her, two of the Volturi guards at his side.

"Hello, Violet," he said coldly.

"Marcus," she nodded curtly, slowly pulling herself up off the ground. "You really need to improve on your social skills."

"Duly noted," he answered. "I am going to get straight to the point. We have a little mission for you."

"Not interested, sorry."

"I think you will be," he said. "We have a theory on how to kill the originals."

"Great, then do it," Violet told him with irritation in her tone, not seeing how she would possibly be able to help.

"The theory is that if the doppelganger is killed, the original dies as well."

"So that means that you plan on killing me, which you believe but have no evidence that it will actually work, will destroy Kathryn."

"Correct," he answered with a sly smile. "So we came for you. But we would rather destroy Alexander; a much bigger threat to us. Only problem is, we have no idea where his doppelganger is. That's where you come in."

"I don't know where he is," she told him. "Sorry."

"Well that's too bad. I suppose we will just have to kill you, then."

Violet realized that she was trapped; at this moment, she had to decide. She wanted to save both herself and Kathryn. Kathryn was the only family she had left, and they had grown close since that night Kathryn had asked for forgiveness. Even without Kathryn in the picture, self-preservation was her main goal. She had decided that she had to do what was best for herself; what would make her happy, what would keep her alive. And she wanted Alexander dead; she wanted revenge for what he had done to her family. But him dying would also mean Jacob dying. And after everything he had done to her, and everything she had put him through, she owed him this at the very least. As Marcus stared her down expectantly, she made her decision.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: What are your thoughts on this chapter and what happened between the characters in it? I would love it if you could please take the time to review! I'm so close to 100 reviews, thank you all so much for that! Once I get to 100 reviews on this story, I will update the next chapter. Even if that's a year from now; meaning basically, the sooner I get reviews, the sooner you get the next chapter. Which I have something BIG planned for. So don't forget to review! Thanks for reading!


	21. One More Day

_Don't you say that I've gone crazy, because I haven't gone crazy yet._

_I just lost my mind, but I still got you._

-Lydia, One More Day

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Buzz…Buzz…Buzz…<em>

Jacob Black stepped out of the shower, looking curiously through the doorway as his phone vibrated on his bedside table. He wrapped a towel around himself, advancing toward it. He wondered if it were Rosalie calling to tell him that Kathryn was gone; he hoped so, wishing to get back to the family as loneliness consumed him.

_Violet Mercer_, read the caller ID. He debated for a moment whether or not to answer; she had done everything in her power since breaking his heart to avoid him at all costs. Why would she be calling him now? He ignored the call, setting the phone back down and returning to the bathroom to finish toweling off. After a few minutes had passed, the phone began to vibrate again. He chose to ignore it once more.

Five minutes of silence passed. He was pulling his shirt over his head as it began to vibrate once more. He sighed, frustrated. "Hello?" he answered, hostility in his voice.

"Jacob?" She sounded like a small child on the other end of the line.

His heart softened as he realized that she sounded apologetic. "What is it, Violet?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. For everything. For hurting you, and for what I said to you, and… I want us to fix things."

He swore he felt his heart pounding in his chest at her words. Hope filled every space inside his body as he debated how to reply. She had hurt him; and very badly, at that. She had ripped out his heart and crushed it; but he still loved her with all of the pieces. He still loved her despite everything.

"Look, you don't have to reply now," she said sadly. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. And if or when ever you are ready to talk to me, I'm here. I'll always be here." The sadness of her last words seemed to echo through the phone.

Jacob sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He hesitated for a moment before replying. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Jacob." He could hear the smile in her voice. "I can't wait to see you."

* * *

><p>Pulling into the long driveway, Jacob looked up at the Cullen home as it loomed high above him. Even though it had only been a few months, it felt as though it had been an eternity since he had seen the home. He looked to the front door to see Violet quickly hurry out, a large suitcase dragging behind her. She tapped on the trunk, and he opened it. She threw in the suitcase and quickly jumped into the passenger's seat.<p>

"Go, now," she commanded. "To the airport."

The wild look in her eyes was enough for him to realize that something was wrong; he quickly pulled the car into reverse, exiting the driveway. The car hydroplaned at the end of the driveway, but he quickly whipped the car back onto the road as he sped down it towards the city.

"What's going on?" Confusion filled his face as he looked to her for answers.

"Faster!" She urged. As he rapidly increased the car's speed, she began to explain. "The Volturi came to me three days ago and told me that Brynne had joined them."

Jacob sighed in irritation. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. And apparently she's still pretty mad at you about the hand. Because she has joined forces with them to destroy the originals. And guess what her theory is?"

"I'm guessing something that involves us, hence the driving like hell to get out of town?"

Violet brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Good guess. She theorized that killing _us_ would also destroy _them_." She hesitated for a moment before continuing on. "They told me that it was me or you."

"Let me guess… you chose yourself?" He kept his eyes on the road, bitterness in his tone.

"No," she countered. "Actually, I told them that I would find you. Which I did… but instead of handing you over, I'm trying to help you escape. The two of us get away, they won't hurt the Cullens. And it's not exactly like we have any family left to hold against us, either."

"And what if they call and threaten us to return?"

"That is why I left my phone displayed obviously on my desk," she answered proudly. She then grabbed his phone from the cup holder, removing the battery and tossing both into the backseat. "And now they officially have no way of tracking us." She settled back into her seat, watching the trees roll by as a light rain began to fall.

"So, what's the rest of the plan?" he asked.

"We hide," she answered simply.

He snickered.

"Hey," she scoffed. "I did the hard part of the plan. It's up to you to entertain yourself."

Once they arrived at the airport, they removed their bags from the trunk of the car.

"Here," Jacob said, tossing the keys to a nearby homeless man. "Enjoy."

The man looked at him in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"You just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Jacob replied without looking back.

"What was that about?" Violet asked in surprise, shocked that Jacob would give away his car like that.

"We leave the car here, we get tracked here. I'm guessing he'll take the car, sell it, have money to live off of for a while. The car turns up at whatever used car dealership, I have the papers here -" he held up the registration" –so they won't be able to trace me back as the original owner. Somebody else gets the car and enjoys it. Everybody wins, the Volturi aside. Two for the next flight to Sydney, please." He placed a large wad of cash in front of the check-in employee.

She stared at the cash, wide-eyed for a moment before answering. "I'm sorry sir, you must have a reservation."

He flirtingly looked deep into her eyes, causing Violet to feel a pang of jealousy. "And you can't make an exception just this once?"

Violet realized what he was doing when the employees' eyes glazed over momentarily. "You know what?" she answered with a smile. "I think we just might have two extra seats."

"Great!" he grinned back at her.

She began to fill out some paperwork. "May I please see some ID?"

He tapped a finger on the pile of cash. "You realize there's three times as much money here as the tickets cost, don't you?"

She nodded slowly, understanding what he was saying. She typed fake names into the computer, turning after a moment and retrieving two boarding passes from the printer. "Have a great flight!"

"Thank you," Jacob smiled, turning and strutting away from the counter. Violet rolled her eyes before following.

"Show off," she muttered.

"And here I thought you had this all planned out," he mocked.

"I did… Just not that part. What was with all that cash, anyway? Trying to avoid being traced?"

"I've been stripping in my free time, actually. That's where I've been this past few months."

She rolled her eyes once more, and they began to search for the gate.

The plane began loading soon after they arrived at the gate. They were both overcome with relief when the plane finally left the runway, no Volturi, Originals, or anyone else who could pose as a threat to them in sight. They rode in silence for the most part, occasionally discussing topics from what their next move was once they made it to Australia to things as petty as new movies. It felt like old times once more; it seemed as though the flight was rekindling their relationship.

Shortly after arrival, they found a large hotel to stay at until they located a better place to hide. They figured that if the Volturi were to find them and come after them, they would be harder to find, leaving them more time to escape before being found.

"Okay, we should probably start looking for houses tomorrow. One so far from the city, nobody will even know we're here," Jacob plotted as he entered the dark sitting area. Violet sat, face illuminated by the city lights as she stared thoughtfully out the large wall of glass at the city's nightlife.

"Jacob?" she said softly. He walked over and sat down beside her, and their eyes met. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he questioned.

"For… for everything. All that I said to you…" Her eyes wandered down to the floor. He waited, acknowledging that she had more to say. Finally, her eyes met his once more. "I didn't mean it. I was scared. With everything going on; what happened to my family, with Kathryn and Alexander reappearing, just _being_ a doppelganger…"

"I understand," he answered, knowing exactly how she felt.

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I just really hope that we can get past this. Because I tried to fight it, but the truth is… I can't. I love you, Jacob."

Silence passed between them for a moment before he took her hand in his. "I forgive you."

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Boom!<em> The door of the hotel door flew open.

"They're in here!" shouted a voice.

Jacob, who had nodded off on the couch, jolted awake, moving towards the bedroom where Violet was in order to protect her. Before he had made it three feet, multiple hands seized him. Still groggy, he attempted to fight them off. A needle went into his arm, and he realized instantaneously that it was a vile of Dead Man's Blood.

"Got him, boss," one of his captors said proudly to an unknown being somewhere in the room.

Violet stumbled out of the bedroom, looking around in confusion. Her eyes moved over to the door, face contorting in horror at whatever it was that she saw. Jacob turned his head to look at it as well. It was Aro.

"Wha-?" Violet appeared to be lost for words as she stared at the head leader of the Volturi.

"Good evening, my dear," he said pleasantly, a smile on his face. "So kind of you to lead us here to the young Mr. Black."

Jacob turned to Violet, spite in his eyes. "You bitch."

She looked at him, wide-eyed. "Jacob, no, I swear, I didn't… I… I don't know how they found us…" she looked around helplessly, trying to come up with any explanation that made any sense at this moment.

"You played me," he responded simply, too weak to fight his way out of the scene.

"No, I didn't, I promise. Please don't be mad at me. I meant everything that I said…" Violet's face was twisted in devastation.

"You're a really good actor," came his only reply.

"Ah, lover spats," Aro interfered, hands clasped as usual. "Such a shame that things had to work out this way. I apologize for cutting this scene short, but I believe we have a plan of which our actions cannot be delayed." He motioned to the guards holding onto Jacob, and they dragged him from the room.

"Don't hurt him," Violet begged. "Please, kill me. Kill me instead."

"He was right. You are a very good actor," Aro beamed. "Thank you for leading us to him."

As he heard these last words before the door closed behind them, Jacob felt filled with rage and hatred for Violet for getting him into this mess. He silently cursed himself for ever deciding to trust her. He should have stayed in California, hidden away. Even if he were all alone, it would be better than being killed over a stupid curse at the young age of 23.

As the Volturi guards shoved him into their car, one of the guards pulled out another vile of Dead Man's Blood.

"You don't have to use that. I'll cooperate," Jacob groggily told the guard. If he only had hours to live, he wanted to be awake for them.

The guard simply smirked, shoving the needle deeper into Jacob's arm. Unable to tolerate the dosage, Jacob slowly faded out of consciousness.

"I'm not acting!" Violet shouted back in frustration. "How the hell did you find us?"

Aro smiled. "Remember that lovely young lady working at the airport? That was our secretary, Gianna. We had various humans stationed around the city in places that you may have used to escape. The airport, the bus station, the highway exits out of town. I warn you to not ever again make the mistake of lying to us. As you can see, it never has a good outcome."

Violet felt overcome with horror and grief, knowing that it was her fault that Jacob, her only true ally in this mess as well as the man she was hopelessly in love with, was going to die.

"Self-preservation. Another trait of Katia's that you inherited." He gave her a chillingly friendly smile before stepping out of the hotel room, closing the broken door behind him and leaving Violet all alone. She slowly fell to her knees, clutching her head in her hand and wishing that she weren't so helpless.

* * *

><p>"Excellent, you're stirring."<p>

Jacob slowly blinked away the sleep in his eyes, looking to see a tall blonde blurrily standing many feet above him.

"Brynne?" he asked in confusion.

"Good guess, sweetheart." She kneeled down as his eyes came into focus, and she glared down at him with victory in her eyes. "You were so perfectly hidden, and yet you went back to that little backstabber. Tisk tisk. You should have seen that coming. Haven't you ever heard that old saying that there is a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they cannot get away?"

"I'm well aware of it now, thank you."

She frowned in disappointment. "You know, Jacob, you are such a waste of such a handsome face. Maybe when – or if it's even an _if_ – you get out of here, you'll be a little more useful. Or at least, a little more fun."

"Really looking forward to the thought of some bonding time with you," he replied sarcastically.

"As am I," she answered. "But for now, I'm going to leave you where you've belonged for the past four and a half years." She looked to a place in the room above that Jacob could not see. "I am ready."

She reached down into the hole, grabbing a lid that Jacob had not noticed moments before. "Sweet dreams," she grinned at him. She slammed the lid down; the lid which Jacob suddenly realized was the lid of a coffin.

He heard her heels click away as the sound of guards moving around began. Jacob realized what was happening as he heard the sound of a shovel scraping against the floor. They were burying him alive. As long as they had him here, they had something to use against Alexander. He was their prisoner for the rest of eternity.

He heard a thump as the first shovel of dirt landed on the casket with an echo of finality.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Big game changers in this chapter. I've now finally revealed that Violet never stopped loving Jacob, as well as the master plan of Brynne and the Volturi. Please review and let me know what you think! I would love to hear your thoughts. I find it funny with how messed up she is that nobody ever comments on Brynne; I'm curious, what do you think of her? Any guesses/theories on what's going to happen next? I would love to hear them. Thanks for reading! Also, thanks for 100+ reviews. That's amazing! It honestly means the world to me.


	22. Consumption

_She loves blindly and recklessly… even if it consumes her._

-Elena Gilbert

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>523 months later<strong>

* * *

><p>She ran angrily through the woods, leaving fallen bushes and trees in her wake. She forcefully shoved her body off of a tree, sending it colliding into another as her heeled boots left the rough wooden surface. He was fast; agile. But she was faster.<p>

Her body ricocheted from every surface in the forest with grace, her movements sleek and precise. Her dark curls flew behind her in a whirlwind as she advanced toward her prey. He stopped short, whipping around to force a tree to the ground in an attempt to crush her or block her advances. She dodged it with ease, anger coursing through her veins, body vibrating with her fury as he took off through the forest once more.

She wove her way through the trees, moving up to the fullest speed she could muster; a speed even faster than she could ever have imagined going, nor had gone before. She began to catch up, venom dripping in her mouth as the rage pulsated through her brain. She was a mere fifteen feet away from him. She tightened up her muscles, crouching, her speed not faltering for the slightest moment as she pounced at him. Their bodies roughly collided, and they both fell to the forest floor.

She grabbed the collar of his jacket, flipping him around to face her as she straddled him, holding him down to keep him from escaping her grasp. He grinned up at her as though he were about to say something sarcastic.

_Smack!_

Surprised, he blinked, the smugness in his expression wiped clean off his face. "Did you seriously just slap me?"

"Did you seriously fake your death and then hide from me for over three thousand years?" Kathryn spat back.

"Fair point," Alexander replied, blinking a few times more.

"A little more than fair." She dug her nails deeper into his dark leather collar, afraid to loosen her grip in the fear that she would lose him once more. Now that she had found him, she never wanted him to get away. "So?" She asked, looking at him expectantly.

"So what?" he questioned, resting his arms behind his head as he casually gazed up at the sky and at the canopy of trees up above.

She rolled off of him, sitting beside him with her knees pulled up against her chest. "Just… you have to explain. Start somewhere." She locked her hand around his wrist, still afraid that he might slip away again for a few thousand years more. "Why you faked your death, why you hid… why you did what you did to my family."

"I think you know why I did that," he answered darkly, sitting up. She tightened her grip on his wrist. He looked down at her hand for a moment, and then sighed. "I am not going anywhere."

"You have lied to me before," she answered sadly. "And I have no idea why you would come after my descendants."

"Really, Katia? Is your memory really _that_ bad? That you cannot remember killing my family right after we were turned?" Guilt washed through her as she hung her head, unable to meet his gaze.

She moved her hand down from his wrist and took his hand in hers. "I told you I was sorry for that," she answered quietly.

"You never told me why you did it," he said helplessly. "Just tell me why."

"I was young, and I was… I was just scared. I feared that you would make them like us. It seemed inevitable that you would leave me if you had any other option. And I did not want to be left all alone in this. I do not expect you to forgive me."

He pulled his hand away from hers, an angry expression crossing the handsome young face that was centuries far more wise than eyes could see. "But then you did it again."

She looked at him helplessly. "I never laid a finger on your son. And I _saved_ Jacob," she offered.

He shot forward; their faces were suddenly inches apart. "But what if he did not look exactly like me? Would you have saved him then?"

"That was the whole point in saving him; I was meant to kill him in order to break the curse, but I did not," she explained, trying to convince him that her intentions were pure.

"Because you love him."

She leaned in closer, their noses almost touching. "I do not love him, Alexander. I love _you_, and only you. Forever." He stared into her eyes with a look of disbelief. "The Volturi have him. Brynne convinced them that the only way to kill one of us is to kill one of the younger doppelgangers. I need your help to save him. Otherwise, you could die."

"Thank you for notifying me; I will do my best not to provoke them."

"But what about Jacob?"

He pushed himself up off the ground, walking off into the trees. She jumped up, following closely behind him.

"Let me guess; this Violet was the one who handed him over to them, correct?"

Kathryn nodded angrily, recalling the conversation with her descendant more than forty years prior. Violet had returned home after missing for three days, frantically explaining that the Volturi had found her and Jacob in hiding, and that they had captured him as a weapon to use against the Originals. Despite Violet's promise that it was not intentional, Kathryn did not believe her. The two of them were more alike than Violet chose to admit; self-preservation would always be at the top of the list for a Mercer girl.

"I warned him that she would turn out like you, and that he needed to get away. He chose not to heed my warning. Whatever happens to him for ignoring me, he deserves it. Same goes for you as well. It was nice catching up, but I believe it is time for us to go our separate ways once more."

"Are we really going to do this?" She pondered with a bitter laugh. "Are we really going to continue playing these wicked little games of ours? It has been thousands of years; I am finished with them." Frustration showed in her voice. "Look, Alexander, I do not know why you chose to fake your death. And I know that I deserved this; living without you and being so alone for so many centuries. But do you not think us even yet? Can we leave the past behind us and start looking to the future?"

He spun around, rage in his eyes as he glared at her with hatred. "Listen closely, Katia. I. Do. Not. Love. You. And there is no past for us, do you not see that? We are living in the past, the present, and the future. All three at once; the clock has stopped ticking for us. We are forever stuck in these teenage bodies, and we can never move forward!" He kicked a tree in frustration; a loud crack resonated through the forest as the tree quickly tumbled to the ground.

Kathryn ran over, putting her hands on his face. "Alexander, look at me. Please, just calm down and look at me."

He slowly moved his eyes up to meet hers. "This is all your fault," he whispered angrily.

"I know."

"All of it. Everything bad that has happened to me since meeting you has been because of you. _That_ is why I faked my death. I needed to get away from you, before you ruined everything."

"I got rid of Madeline, though. I have put her into a comatose state; she is safely hidden away, and the only way to get her out is with this." She showed him the key around her neck. "She is no longer a threat to us. Nor are the Volturi; together, we can put an end to them. We can forget about the doppelgangers and the curse and all of it; we can just be together, just the two of us for the rest of eternity."

"I already told you, Katia; I do not love you."

"You are just saying that now because you are angry with me," she reasoned, trying her best to hide the hurt in her voice. "But just give me another chance –"

He shook his head sadly. "You do not seem to understand what I am trying to say." He looked back to the sky for a moment, gathering his thoughts as he searched for the perfect explanation. "You were young and naïve, and I took advantage of you because of that. And I am so, so sorry for that. But I never loved you, Katia."

His words echoed around her, choking her like a living nightmare. They both stood in silence as she collected his words, each one stinging like a thousand angry hornets.

"I do not believe you," she denied, knowing deep down in her heart from the way he said those four words, that he meant every single one of them. _I never loved you_. They clouded her mind as she wished for the first time in centuries for the ability to cry.

"I mean it all. Every last word. I am just sorry that I let things go this far; how out of hand it all got. I never wanted to hurt you."

"But you did."

He nodded, turning slowly and moving away through the trees.

She did not follow.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Sorry for the short chapter; I wanted to focus only on Kathryn and Alexander with this one. What do you think now? Have any of your opinions on either of these characters changed? Do you really believe that Alexander never loved her? Do you want to see more interaction between them? What do you think has been going on with the other characters in the past 43 years? Please review, I would love to hear your thoughts! I promise I will get started on the next chapter right away, and then as soon as I get at least 120 reviews on this story, I will post it. And I promise I will reply to all signed reviews, of course. Thanks for reading!


	23. 95 Years Later

_If you're going through hell, keep going._

- Winston Churchill

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>438 months later<strong>

* * *

><p>"Do not let her get away! Find her. Finish destroying them all. And find him! <em>Now<em>!"

"Yes Miss Kathryn," replied many guards as they sped off in different directions. Screams of the Volturi guards echoed through the vast castle walls. Flames consumed the air, bodies being torn to pieces and thrown into the flames. Pleas for mercy could be heard, ignored as the metallic sound of limb being ripped from torso blended together. The smell of blood was in the air.

Perfectly manicured nails wrapped around the throat of the Volturi leader. For the first time in thousands of years, the smugness on his face was gone as the ancient queen of the vampire world pulled him up to eye level.

"Where is he?" She asked with vengeance in her voice.

"Please forgive me, Katia," he whispered as her nails punctured his throat, blood seeping out onto her fingers.

"Where is he?" She demanded with an inhumane look in her eyes that bore down into her soul.

He smiled at her, making the fury inside of her ignite like a brightly burning flame laid out into kerosene. "Are you sure you want to know? Has your heart not already been broken enough by the first of them?"

"Goodbye, Aro," she answered with ice in her words. A screech resonated off the walls as Aro's head flew from his shoulders. The corpse burst into ash before it hit the stone floor. Kathryn smiled as she looked out across the grand throne room, the floors covered in the ashes of the older vampires, piles of flames where the remains of the younger vampires still burned. Aside from a small handful of her guards moving to finish the cleanup, everything stood still.

She turned towards the prison chambers, moving faster than the speed of light to the candlelit dungeon. She looked in each cell for him, searching frantically. It had been nearly one hundred years; it would be difficult to restore him to full health. She needed to find him as soon as possible.

She came to a room at the end of the dungeon; things were different in this room. A single shovel leaning against the wall made her realize in horror what the Volturi had done to him. She grabbed the shovel, moving faster than vampirically possible to tear at the ground.

"Help me!" She shrieked at her guards. At least a dozen of them were immediately at her side. "Start digging!"

Minutes passed as they dug at the ground, blood and dirt staining their skin as they tore the room apart. Finally, there was a hollow thud as Kathryn's fingers found a lid of rotted wood. She roughly pushed her palm through it, digging and tearing as the lid was ripped away. She had found him.

An eerie silence suddenly encompassed the room as she stared down at him. It was the most horrifying sight that she had seen in all her centuries of existence. Her hand covered her mouth as a soft whimper escaped her lips.

""Kathryn?" Adara asked as she entered the room. "Did you find him?"

Kathryn, too horrified to reply to her friend, reached down, gently caressing his face. It felt like sandpaper; she feared that even her gentle touch would break him. He looked so fragile. Her words to him so long ago replayed in her mind.

"_Your body will begin to desiccate; your skin will begin to dry out, your limbs will slowly begin to stop moving as fluidly as they do now. Basically, you'll end up looking like those mummies you see at museums". _His healthy face flashed in her mind, a longing inside her to see it once more. "_Except you will still be alive."_

"Still alive," she whispered to herself. She reached down, gently wrapping her arms around him as she dragged him up from out of the grave. She cradled him in her arms as she shook with anger. "It's alright, Jacob. I'm here now."

"Boss?" her favorite guard cautiously entered the room. "She got away. We failed to capture Brynne."

She locked eyes with him. "It is alright, Dorian. We will find her. Now go and find some kerosene; a lot. I want this place gone once and for all."

* * *

><p>"…sure it is set up alright?..."<p>

"…should be waking by now…"

"..too late…"

Quiet sobbing.

"…another IV…"

"…patience…"

Time had no meaning.

"…please wake up…"

The voices sounded familiar. Jacob wished to comfort the sobbing girl; it made him sad to hear her cries. He felt her beside him. He tried to move, tried to place his hand over hers.

His eyes would not open.

His fingers would not move.

_I'm alright._

His lips would not move to tell her.

He was trapped inside his own body.

* * *

><p>"Jacob? Can you hear me?"<p>

Jacob stirred in his bed, heavy eyelids slowly moving to open.

"Drink this." He felt a plastic tube being inserted into his mouth. His taste buds exploded as the delicious liquid touched his tongue. He swallowed hungrily, reaching for the bag.

"Good, you are mobile now," Kathryn observed as she watched him drain the blood bag.

"My—" a fit of coughs interrupted his words, the pain in his throat unbearable. He had drained a large bag of blood, and there was an IV dripping blood into his veins. Yet he felt as though he were completely empty.

"Dry throat, I know," she answered sympathetically, handing him another bag as she began to soothingly run her fingers through his hair. "It will take a while for your body to recuperate, but we will do whatever we can to make the process less painful."

A few minutes passed in silence as she handed him bag after bag, him hungrily draining them until the intensity of the burning had subsided slightly. He tried to pull himself up into a sitting position, but still felt too weak to do so. Kathryn gently ran her fingers down his face, examining him.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"I am checking to see how close you are to being back to normal." She was uncharacteristically silent, none of the usual playfulness, sarcasm, or evil in her tone. She appeared to be haunted by something; things had changed since the last time he had seen her. He suddenly wondered how long that had been.

"How long was I… you know…?" His words caught in his throat, unable to finish the thought.

She nodded in understanding, her jaw tight. "About ninety five years."

He laughed. "You're joking, right?" His face fell when her serious expression remained set in stone.

There was a moment of silence before she continued on. "I am so sorry, Jacob," she said softly, avoiding his gaze. "I wanted to come for you sooner. But the Volturi needed to be destroyed. They were not just going to hand you over. I had to build up an army, and -"

"It's alright, Kathryn," he said, gently placing his hand on hers. "At least you came." Bitterness resonated in his tone.

"I know what Violet did to you," she sympathized, picking up on his tone. She stood up and began to slowly pace around the room, eyes on her feet as she gracefully glided across the floor. "She claimed it was not planned, but I do not believe that. I understand how you feel," she continued, the bitterness of his tone echoing in hers. "You spend years and years giving someone your heart and putting all of your faith into them, trusting them to be the one person who is there for you, trusting them to care. And then suddenly, they turn you over to your enemy, or fake their own death, or—"

"I'm guessing you and Alexander have been reunited?"

She froze by the balcony, gazing out through the glass at the starry night sky. "He never loved me," she answered. She turned to face Jacob. "Everything I did was for _nothing_. I waited thousands of years to be disappointed."

"I'm sorry," he said sadly.

"Don't feel sorry for me; feel sorry for him." She smirked.

Jacob was surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

She slowly took a few steps closer. "First priority: destroying the Volturi and rescuing you. Second priority: revenge."

"Let me guess," he replied, sleepiness edging into his voice. "You're going to find a new boyfriend and then take him to prom as your date in the hopes that Alexander will see and become jealous."

Kathryn smiled. "You have spent way too much time watching sitcoms."

"I'm right though, right?" he grinned, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Not exactly. My plan is a little more elaborate." She walked over to the light switch, dimming the lights as she moved to exit the room. "I will tell you when you are feeling better. Right now, you need your rest."

"Whatever your plan is, I am Team Kathryn one hundred percent of the way," he replied sleepily as he settled back into the pillows.

She smiled softly as she watched him drift off to sleep. Alexander was right, and she could deny it no longer; she loved Jacob. But she had hurt him too badly for him to ever return her feelings.

Unrequited love reflecting in her eyes, she let go of the thought as she exited the room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hello everyone! I am so sorry for the time between updates; I was really hoping for and waiting to get more reviews last chapter, then I got busy. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! **Please review and let me know what you think!** I promise that if I get up to 125 reviews by Friday, I will upload two chapters next weekend. Promise. Thank you all for reading!


	24. Game On

_To forgive is divine… but vengeance is mine._

-Alice Cooper

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><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>One month later<strong>

* * *

><p>"Em…Emmett? Alice?" Rosalie's groggy voice echoed panic as she confusedly called out for her family. She had been with the two of them in her and Emmett's room when suddenly, everything had gone black. She attempted to crawl onto her feet, but they felt as though they were made of jelly. She jerked her arm, surprised to find that it was shackled to the ground.<p>

"Rose?" Violet's equally groggy voice called out from the darkness.

"Violet? I can't see you," Rosalie replied. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, Rose."

"Why is everyone yelling?" Alice moaned, shakily pulling herself up into a sitting position.

"Alice? Are you alright?" Violet asked.

"Where are we? I can't see anything. It's strange, we're supposed to be able to see in the dark."

"Only if there's a light source, though. We must be in some sort of underground room," said Violet.

"Alice, can you use your powers to find us an escape plan? Or at least figure out where we are?" Rosalie suggested eagerly.

"No, I cannot," Alice answered in frustration. "_Somebody _blocks my powers."

"Sorry," Violet replied guiltily.

The three of them sat in silence, each trying to devise a plan. As the minutes passed, voices of the other Cullen family members began to arise from the darkness. All were weak and shacked to the ground, unable to escape.

"I have no idea who would have done it. But we must have been dosed with Dead Man's Blood and brought here while unconcious. Is everyone alright?" Carlisle asked.

Mumbled replies suggested that nobody was injured.

"What a minute," Violet said with panic in her voice. "Where's Evan?"

Silence echoed as the Cullens all wondered where their newest family member was.

"Wha…" the voice of a young man came from the darkness. "What's going on?"

"Evan! Thank god." Violet breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright, Evan?" Esme asked her newest adopted son.

"Yes, fine. But where are we?"

Suddenly, dozens of candles placed around the room shot on with the sound of a door opening. The lights revealed that they were in some sort of an underground chamber. "I can enlighten you," came a drawling voice. The Cullens all gasped to see Brynne enter the chamber.

"Brynne," Violet spat.

"Violet. So nice to see you again. We always have _so_ much fun together." A hyena smile lit up her porcelain face.

Violet smiled back, disgusted with Brynne's constant smirk. "Always a pleasure. You're so handy to have around. At least… you used to be." She looked at the stump that used to be Brynne's hand as she spoke.

"Be quiet," Brynne hissed with a glare. "Kathryn isn't here to save you now."

"Speaking of Kathryn, it's too bad you two are no longer friends," replied Violet. "If the two of you made up, I'm sure you could still be her right hand woman."

Brynne shot forward, using her remaining right hand to grasp Violet's throat. "I am going to murder you and your entire family," she said with venom in her tone.

"Really? All by yourself? It would be nice if you had some help; too bad you're a little short-handed."

As Brynne's glare darkened, Violet's smile grew wider. "Don't worry; I'm all out of hand jokes now."

"Nice shirt, Brynne, did you buy it secondhand?" Emmett shouted with a grin as large as Violet's.

Brynne's head shot toward him. "Listen here—"

"Did you buy a matching handbag?" he interjected. "That would sure come in handy."

Violet laughed. "Nice, Emmett, nice."

"Do you have any more jokes at my expense of my missing hand?" Brynne asked sarcastically.

"No," Violet answered with a serious expression. "We're stumped."

Brynne's remaining hand shot down, slapping Violet across the face with a force that knocked her to the side. "Manners, little girl."

The room grew silent, the humor quickly gone as Brynne's eyes set to kill.

"Speaking of my missing hand, where is your handsome little lover? Is he not here to save you now? I thought he _always_ saved you. Because he loves you." She drawled out the last sentence, fury in her words. The hyena smile was back plastered on her face as her long blonde waves framed her face like a thousand tiny snakes.

"I think you know the answer to that," Violet responded quietly.

"Yes, I do," Brynne growled with malice. "He is _dead_. I killed him. And I relished every single second of it." She smiled down at Violet as Violet trembled.

"Why do you have us here?" Esme asked, trying to put on a façade of fearlessness.

"Is it not obvious, my dear?" Brynne asked, pulling out from her pocket a long wooden stake. "You are the closest Kathryn has to family. Allies. Kathryn destroyed my allies. It is only fair to destroy hers." She turned to Violet. "Starting with you."

"No!" Violet heard Esme scream as Brynne lunged forward.

Violet stared as her life flashed before her eyes, chin up, refusing to show her fear. She would not allow Brynne that pleasure. She was prepared to die, completely this time. She locked eyes with her killer.

"Hey Brynne, heads up!"

An axe swung down, interrupting Brynne mid-lunge as it collided with her throat. Her head flew through the air, her blood splattering across Violet's face. Before either head or body could meet the ground, they burst into dust. Violet and the rest of the Cullens stared in horror at the bloody pile of dust and cloth crumpled on the ground where Brynne had stood just a split second before.

"You're welcome," came the voice of Brynne's slayer.

The silence remained, broken only as Alice gasped in surprise.

"Alexander," Violet said with fear in her voice, pressing herself closer against the wall. She feared him more than anything, and wished more than anything that she were able to run. She would run for miles and miles, never stopping for the briefest moment until she had made it to a place where she felt safe.

"Guess again," he said. His eyes burned into hers, hatred in them.

"J…Jacob?" She stared in disbelief. "I thought you were dead." She felt as though she were looking at a stranger; nothing of the young man who had fought for her, loved her, and protected her with his own life so many years before.

"Is that why you never came looking for me?"He asked, voice void of emotion. "Or is that what you wanted all along, Violet?"

"I never wanted to hurt you," she answered, a sob catching in her throat. "Jacob, I swear. You have to believe me."

"Why? Because right now, you need my help? It always seems you have the perfect lie, the perfect excuse, when it comes to you needing me for something."

"The Volturi tricked me. Please believe me," she pleaded. "I would never do anything to hurt you." He stared at her with disbelief.

"Jacob, I'm so happy to see that you are alright," Esme interrupted, eyes gleaming with joy. "I believed that I would never see you again." His head turned towards Esme, and Violet was grateful for the distraction. Anything to avoid facing his accusations that were never true.

"You're a liar too," he shot back. "All of you are. Treating me like family. Acting like you cared." His voice rose, anger beginning to show. "And you left me. You let them take me, and you left me there to die. And you didn't do anything to stop it." Disgust was etched across his always handsome, newly threatening face. He turned towards the wall, setting down the axe.

"Jacob?" Rosalie spoke up, heartbreak showing on her perfect face. "I _do_ love you. You're my brother. And I wanted to save you, but I couldn't. There was no way. They all said it was too dangerous, and they wouldn't let me go."

Jacob turned and knelt down by Brynne's pile of ashes. They all watched ominously, wondering what he was doing. His knuckled locked around something, and he lifted out his hand.

Walking over to Rosalie, he knelt down beside her. He gently took her arm in his hand, revealing a small silver key in his other. He inserted the key into the strong cuff of the shackle, freeing first her right arm, then her left. When she was free, she grabbed his collar, pulling him closer into her arms. She held on to him as tightly as she could, not wanting to let go after thinking he was gone for so many years.

He embraced her back, believing her and only her. "I know, Rose. I believe you."

"Please don't leave me ever again," she pleaded into his shoulder.

"Not planning on it," he answered as he pulled himself away from her grasp. Still too weak to get to her feet, she had to let go and watch as he stood up, heading towards the exit.

"It looks like the effect of the Dead Man's Blood is starting to wear off. You should all be fully mobile within the next few hours. As much as I would like to leave you all here to rot, buried underground like you left me, I assume Rosalie will free you all. Don't think this is the last you'll see of me, though. I came back for a reason."

He gave Violet one last look, as though to suggest that a game had just begun. And then he was gone.

* * *

><p>"I just feel nervous, is all. 'Don't think this is the last you'll see of me'. It has been two entire weeks, and no sign of him," Alice fretted as she, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Violet, and Evan all climbed out of the two separate cars that they had driven.<p>

"He's pissed," Evan informed them. "It's understandable. But still…" He looked off into the nearby forest, his mind wandering away from the conversation.

"Hey, Evan," Violet said, looking concerned as she stepped in front of him and took his face in her hands. "He's not going to hurt you, if that's what you're so worried about. I'll protect you."

"I'm not the one I'm scared for," he answered as he gazed down adoringly at her.

She smiled, moving her lips up to meet his. "Neither one of us have anything to fear. Nobody does, unless he asks for it. One false move and I'll take him down."

"I don't think so," Rosalie snarled at the couple, interrupting their tender moment. "If you lay even one of your slutty little fingers on him, I will tear you apart from the inside out." She spun on her heel, storming off towards the building in a flash of blonde curls.

"Welcome to year 158 of high school," Jasper mumbled awkwardly as the five remaining Cullen siblings looked up at the school looming before them.

"I should go after her," Emmett said, his fear of the idea clear in his tone.

"No, I should," Violet offered. "I think I went a little too far with what I said." She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder, turning to Evan. "See you at lunch, okay?" She quickly pecked him on the lips before moving towards the doors of the school.

Once inside, she looked around for Rosalie. It only took a moment for her to locate the tall blonde making her way through the crowd of students. Many of them gawked as she walked by, boys pointing her out to their friends, girls admiring her with envy in their eyes. It reminded Violet of the scene that every mediocre high school themed movie has of an attractive new girl walking down the hallway.

"Rosalie, wait up," Violet pleaded, grabbing the arm of her sister.

Rosalie spun around, making no attempt to hide her irritation. "What do you want, Violet?"

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"To threaten the life of my brother. Yeah, I know," Rosalie sarcastically interrupted. Her expression softened, tenseness still in her features. "Look, I think you have hurt him enough. If he turns up, just stay away from him."

"Rosalie, I don't know what happened between us. We used to be so close, and ever since the Volturi took Jacob, it's like I'm some dirt stuck to the bottom of your shoe. I just want us to be friends again."

Rosalie pulled her arm out of Violet's grasp. "That would be nice." Her eyes made their way to the ceiling for a moment before moving back down to meet Violet's. "Unfortunately, you're a selfish little bitch who signed my brother's death warrant. After all he did for you. He loved you."

"I loved him too," Violet tried, desperately wanting Rosalie to see that it was the truth. "I loved him with my whole heart. I wanted us to be together. More than anything. I swear to you, I tried to save him. I knew the Volturi were looking for us, and I wanted to keep him safe. Yes, I agree, knowing what I know now I should have just left him be. But I sincerely thought that he would be safer with me."

"It's not that that I don't believe," Rosalie said softly, a glimmer of hurt in her topaz eyes. "It's that instead of trying to help me rescue him, you just let him go. You let them take him – you let them torture him, leave him for dead, try to kill him – and you acted like it didn't matter. Like all of his pain meant nothing to you."

"It did, Rose!" Violet wanted more than anything for Rosalie to believe. "That is the truth. But what could we have done? There are dozens of the Volturi, there are only two of us."

"I know that!" Rosalie snapped. "It's that you didn't even bother to try. Instead you just went and replaced him with Evan, acting like nothing was wrong. And I can't ever forgive you for that."

A silence passed between the two women as the bell rang for the students to get to class. Violet averted her gaze, knowing that Rosalie was right. She knew that there was no way to go back and erase the past, no way to make up for her mistakes.

"You have a class to get to, Violet," Rosalie reminded her. And then she turned and walked away, leaving Violet standing alone in the hallway, surrounded by a whirlwind of emotions.

* * *

><p>Violet jerked open the door to her English class, too distracted to realize how grand of an entrance she was making. She normally would have simply slipped in and gone straight to the back, but her conversation with Rosalie had gotten her too upset to think straight.<p>

She awkwardly looked at the teacher as the class stared at her. "I'm… sorry."

"Miss Mercer, I presume?"

Violet nodded. "Erm… yeah. Sorry I'm late."

"That's alright, you're not the first Junior to be late to class," said the teacher with a smile. "Please, take a seat."

Violet was confused; she was posing as a Freshman, not a Junior. She passed it off as confusion on the teachers part as she looked for an available seat. Her expression turned from embarrassment to dread as she looked to the back of the room. Jacob was sitting there. He smiled wickedly, implying with the nod of his head that he wanted her to take the empty seat next to him. She wanted to turn and run, but knew that she had to keep an act up for the humans in the room. She made her way toward him, slowly pulling out the seat and sitting down in it as the teacher resumed her lesson.

"Remember the day we met?" he asked with a smile that made her suspicious.

"How could I forget?" she replied, keeping her eyes locked on the teacher. "It was the worst day of my existence."

He continued on, ignoring her remark. "First day of school. We were sitting in English class together, just like we are right now. And as I recall, Mrs. Flora even said the exact same thing to you about being late as this new teacher of ours."

Violet recalled Mrs. Flora's words, realizing why she had a sense of déjà vu upon entering the classroom. "Did you use your little mind tricks to get this teacher to say the same words?" she asked, still keeping her eyes locked on the front of the room. "That's cute."

"I'm also using my 'little mind trick' to make it look as though I'm not here."

"So your big revenge plan is to make me look crazy? Make it look like I'm taking to myself in class? I have to say, I expected _much_ better from you."

"They can't see you, either," he said proudly. "They've all forgotten you're here. It's like the two of us don't exist. Like we're all alone in here…" He shifted closer, softly tucking her hair behind her ear.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she fought to repress a shudder at his touch.

"I still make you nervous," he observed. "You miss my touch. You still feel an attraction to me."

She pushed his hand away, moving her chair further away from his. "Don't touch me," she warned.

He grinned. "Or what? You'll rip off all my clothes just for old time's sake?"

She gave him the nastiest glare she could muster. She wanted to see him tremble. She wanted to see that stupid grin wiped off of his face.

"Oh, that's right. You can't do that. Because of… what's his name? Your new little boy toy?"

"His name is _Evan_, and he's not my 'boy toy'," she replied defensively. "He's my one and only; my true love."

He gave her a flirty smile. "You're just trying to make me jealous now, aren't you?"

She smiled back. "Only if the truth makes you jealous." She turned her attention back to the teacher.

"You and I both know that is not the truth." Violet felt his eyes burn into her as he stared at her profile. She tried to pay attention to the lecture, but could not focus.

"You know he is a Volturi spy, right?"

She turned back to face him, smiling. "You're so cute, Jacob. Look how jealous you're getting. You're starting to make stuff up."

"I'm not making anything up," he told her, sarcastically holding his hands up in the air. "Everything I've ever said to you has been one hundred percent truth."

"Oh really? So why don't you tell me more about this Volturi spy theory of yours, then?"

"Alright then. Let me guess; the way you met was some cheesy romantic comedy sort of meeting. You dropped your purse, you both went to grab it, and the two of you bumped heads. Met eyes, and it was love at first sight."

Violet rolled her eyes and laughed.

"But it was something along those lines, right? I can't be completely off."

"Actually, I found him while I was hunting, about thirty years ago, dying in the mountains. He was a sixteen year old boy; I didn't feel there was any better option. I saved him; I turned him into one of us. I worked with Carlisle to teach him how to survive, and after a few years we just realized that we were meant to be." She smiled fondly, thinking back on the story.

"That was, honestly, probably the worst story I've ever heard."

"Jealous," she teased.

He shrugged. "Just trying to protect you."

"So how did you escape the Volturi?" she questioned, curious.

"Somebody killed them all and busted me out."

"Who?"

"Didn't see who it was."

She looked at him skeptically. "So the Volturi are all dead?"

"Every last one of them. No thanks to you, of course."

"I wanted to come for you," she told him, stripping away her defensive shield. "I loved you more than anything, and I wanted us to be together. You have to believe that; everything I said that night was true."

His expression grew serious. "If I would have known it would keep you safe, I would have gone with them willingly. You didn't have to trick me. I love you, you know I would do anything for you."

"I don't love you anymore, Jacob," she told him blankly. "I just want you to know that right here and right now. Because I don't want you to get hurt again. We don't belong together. It has never worked out for us to be together before, and it never will. Please, just let go of me and move on. You shouldn't have come back for me."

"I didn't."

She stared at him blankly. "Then why, exactly, did you come back?"

"Because I need your help."

"And what, exactly, do you need my help with?" She asked cautiously.

"Kathryn has something I need."

"And how exactly do I come into this plan of yours?"

He sighed. "I need you to pretend to be her, obviously. Go into her house and get it for me."

"I'm not doing it, Jacob. I won't help you. I'm happy now, exactly how my life is. The Originals are gone; they have been for years. There's peace in the family, and I'm trying to move on from all of the horrors of my past with Evan. I'm sorry, but you're on your own. I'm done helping you with your little schemes." She silently prayed that he would let it go; she was scared of what he was suggesting.

"Fine," he answered.

"Really?" she asked with surprise.

"If you won't come willingly, I'll just have to find some motivation for you." He stood up from his seat, pushing it back under the table. "By the way, Violet; you should have _never_ underestimated my love for you."

He leaned forward, placing a cold kiss on her forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing that he would just leave. And when she opened them, her wish had come true.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Hello, readers! I so sincerely apologize for the amount of time between updates. Hopefully this extra long chapter makes up for it. What do you think about it and everything that happened? What do you think Jacob's up to? Brynne is now dead, Violet has a new boyfriend, and Jacob is back in town. A lot of stuff unfolded in this chapter which probably should have been two chapters. Reviews with your thoughts would be much appreciated!

Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing this story! Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I feel motivated to update!


	25. Stand Firm

_Plant your feet and stand firm. The only question is where to plant you feet._

- Seth Grahame-Smith

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><p><strong>Chapter 23<strong>

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><p>"Esme!" Violet shot through the front door, quickly locating her adoptive mother in the kitchen. "Esme, Evan is missing. Have you seen him?"<p>

Concern showed as Esme's brows furrowed. "No, he's not here."

"Well Alice came up to me after school and told me he was gone, and Jacob was there, so-"

"Oh, sure, always blame the ex," Jacob complained as he entered the kitchen.

"Violet's eye darted to Esme. "What is _he_ doing here?"

"Violet, don't be rude," Esme chastised. "He's still family."

"He's not _my_ family, Esme!" Violet retorted. "He did something to Evan." She glared at Jacob as she ran over, shoving him roughly against the wall.

"What are you talking about, Violet?" he asked defensively, putting his hands up as a gesture of surrender. "I just got here!"

"You liar! You were at school today!"

"At school?" Esme asked as Jasper and Alice entered the room.

"What's going on?" Jasper asked.

"Violet claims Jacob was at your school today," Esme replied. "And she thinks he has something to do with Evan disappearing."

"We just got back from searching the woods near the school; there's no sign of him. Rosalie and Emmett are looking around the city. They should be back any time now," reported Jasper.

"I _know_ how to find Evan, and he's standing right here!" Violet shoved Jacob against the wall once more. Plaster fell from the ceiling, and the floor cracked slightly from the force. Violet suddenly felt herself flying across the room and into the counter.

"I told you not to touch my brother!" Rosalie growled, eyes on fire as they bore down with hatred on the girl laying on top of what remained of the kitchen table.

"Rosalie, please, that table was my grandmothers," Esme groaned as Emmett entered the room, placing his hands on Rosalie's shoulders to prevent her from going after Violet once more.

"He was at school, Rose. He was the one who took Evan." Violet appeared ready to pounce back at Rosalie, and Jasper cautiously inched closer to her.

"Jacob would never do anything to him! What, trading him over to the Volturi for years of torture wasn't enough? You think he deserves to be blamed for your boyfriend realizing what a disgusting person you are and leaving you, as well?" Rosalie shoved Emmett's hand off her shoulder, and Jasper inched closer to Violet once more, prepared to intervene.

"He was at school, you _bitch_, and you know it! Stop trying to protect him! He's changed, for the worst. He's just like Alexander now, self-righteous and hell-bent on revenge."

"He wasn't at school today!" Rosalie argued back, positioning her feet to lunge at her sister. Emmett wrapped his arms around her waist, tightening his grip on her.

"He was too!" Violet argued. "One of you saw him, right?" she asked, looking to the other three Cullens for support.

Nobody replied.

"Jasper? Alice?" Violet asked, looking between them. They both shook their heads. "Emmett?" She looked at him to see him shaking his head, as well.

"He wasn't there, little sis," Emmett answered quietly.

Violet's lip quivered. "So… what? None of you believe me? He came back into town, now Evan's missing…"

"He wouldn't hurt Evan, Violet," Esme tried, hoping to restore peace in the house.

Violet looked around at them helplessly. She locked eyes with Jacob, who continued to eye her as if she were crazy.

"Maybe Alexander is here," he suggested. "Maybe he was the one who rescued me, so he could place the blame on me when he did things like this."

"That sounds reasonable," Jasper responded, nodding his head slowly.

"Don't worry, Violet. We'll find him," Alice promised. "I still can't see his future. Which means you're in it."

"Or that he doesn't have one," Violet suggested, turning and running out through the patio door and into the woods behind the garage.

* * *

><p>Violet had made it a mile into the forest when she heard something strange. A faint whooshing sound resonated through her ears. She braced herself for an attack.<p>

"Expecting someone?"

Violet recognized the voice, turning to see Jacob standing behind her. "Just thought someone was trying to sneak up on me." Her eyes drifted to the ground for a moment before moving back up to meet his. "Sorry for blaming you for what Alexander did."

"Don't be," Jacob answered.

She smiled, glad that he had forgiven her.

"I did it." A smile appeared on his lips.

"You _were_ the one at school, and you _were_ the one who took Evan?" She began to feel her anger rising.

"Wouldn't you rather it be that way? At least you know that he'll live – that is, if you give me what I want."

She groaned. "Let me guess; you let him live if I help you get this item from Kathryn."

"I'm glad you see things my way," he answered.

"I suppose I don't have any other option, do I?" she asked.

He smiled at her. "It will be fun, I promise. Just you and me, the open road, nobody trying to kill us. You pretend to be Kathryn, you get what I want, you get what you want, we go our separate ways. A real adrenaline rush."

"And if I help you with this, you _promise_ I never have to see you again?"

He shrugged. "Sure. If that's what you want. Which we both know it isn't."

"Yes it is, trust me," she said, hiding her fear as she shoved past him, taking her first steps towards their adventure.

* * *

><p><em>She's so cold, she's so cold, cold. She's so c-c-c-old; but she's beautiful, though-<em>

The song abruptly stopped as Violet pushed the button to turn the radio off. "Very funny, Jacob."

"I didn't say anything," he replied defensively, trying to hold back the smirk that was threatening to cross his face. "I just turned on the radio, and that happened to be the first thing that we heard. Not my fault The Rolling Stones are cool."

She glared at him, crossing her arms across her chest as she returned to staring out the window.

"So if we can't have the radio, do you want to talk?"

"No, I would prefer to ride in silence."

"Just like the last sixteen hours," he sighed.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Violet asked. "This trip is taking longer than expected."

"Just a couple of hours away. Try being patient for once."

Violet turned quickly, glaring at him. "You have. The love of my afterlife. And are threatening to kill him. I just want to get this over with, so that I can have him back and go home."

"When the item is mine, he is yours," Jacob promised. "Though I don't know why you want a Volturi spy back." She glared at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Here, I had this made for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jewelry box, offering it to her. She took it, curiously looking to see what was inside. She frowned upon seeing what it contained.

"Very inappropriate, Jacob," she said disapprovingly, disgust in her tone as she looked down at the expensive looking ring. "I've already told you, I love _Evan_, not you."

"Wow, someone is full of herself, isn't she?" He rolled his eyes at her once more. "It's an exact replica of Kathryn's protection ring. So the guards think you're her."

Violet looked at him awkwardly for a moment, thankful that she were unable to blush. "Oh… right. So what is this item you want from Kathryn?" she asked, attempting to quickly change the subject.

"Kathryn has a key, and I need it."

"Isn't it the one Kathryn wears around her neck all the time?"

"Yes," he replied simply.

"So…" Sarcasm dripped in her voice. "Are we just going to walk up to her and ask for it?"

In response, he simply held up a syringe of Dead Man's Blood.

"Okay. But she's one of the world's two most powerful vampires. Are you really expecting to be able to just walk up to her and stick that in her arm?"

"No. You're going to distract her while I sneak up on her. She wouldn't hurt you; she loves you."

"And how do you know that, Jacob? That she won't hurt me? She hates me now. She believes I set you up to get taken by the Volturi to protect myself."

"You did," he answered bitterly.

"I did not. I told you, the Volturi set me up. That girl at the airport was working with them—"

"You can stop the lies right there," he interrupted, eyes showing that his mind was in a different place.

"Point is, I did something that could have gotten Alexander killed. She's not going to be happy with me."

"I'm free, he's safe. You're family. She'll be over it," he explained, boredom in his tone. "Don't worry; I'll be right there with the Dead Man's Blood."

"If you insist," Violet replied quietly. "So speaking of Alexander, did you mean what you said earlier? That you think he released you so that he could frame you for his actions?"

Jacob sighed. "I really don't know, Violet. I honestly have no idea how I got out. I just woke up one day in a room of an abandoned hotel. I struggled to the woods nearby, and just drained every living being that I could find until I felt somewhat normal. I still feel thirsty, though. All the time. A hundred years of starvation will do that to you."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," she told him honestly. "I wish I could have helped." She waited for him to answer, but he said nothing. "What does the key unlock, that you want so badly?"

"Something that can kill Kathryn and Alexander."

Violet hesitantly laughed. "Are you serious? They're the original vampires, Jacob. _Nothing _can kill them."

"This can," he insisted. "Why else do you think she keeps it around her neck at all times? She even _showers_ with it on."

"Why do you need to kill them, though? They're leaving us alone; isn't that enough?"

"Kathryn murdered my family, Violet. They need to be avenged. And for my one remaining relative, I can't exactly say Alexander is my favorite person in the world. Not to mention that our world will never be at peace as long as they're in it. We're here," he said before she could reply, pulling the car off into the woods.

"What's the plan?" Violet asked, fear coming over her as she realized exactly how much danger she was in. "We can't just go in there blindly."

"Kathryn is immune to my powers," Jacob told her, suddenly out of the car and holding her door open for her. Violet hesitantly climbed out as he continued. "But her guards aren't. You pretend to be her and walk in with confidence—"

"Why can't you just hide us both?" she asked, terror showing in her eyes.

"Because they need to open the gates for us to get through. They don't just randomly open them for no good reason. Don't worry, they'll think you're her. Put these on," he commanded, pulling a bag of clothes out from the trunk. "This is more what Kathryn would wear. Your current outfit just screams doppelganger."

"Look away," she demanded.

"Why? It''s not like I haven't seen you naked before."

She threw a nearby rock at him. "Look away!"

"Fine," he grumbled, turning his back to her as she began to change. "So you just get through the gates, we go in, we find Kathryn, we knock her out, we take the key, and we leave."

"That's it? That's your plan?" Violet asked with disbelief.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked.

"There is zero attention to detail. What if she has guards watching her? What if Alexander is in there with her? We can't take them both. What if she carries some kind of weapon? What if –"

"You always did pay too much attention to detail. Don't worry, I've taken precautionary measures. Neither of us will get hurt; I promise. Are you done yet?"

"Yes," she answered, adjusting the sleeves of the skintight jacket he had given her.

"Great, then. Let's go." He took off running through the forest.

"Great, then," she echoed quietly, fear overcoming the sarcasm in her tone as she followed after him. They ran a few miles before he stopped abruptly in front of her. He did not budge as she ran into his back. "Ouch. Thanks for the warning."

"See those gates up there?" he asked, pointing ahead to a large gate guarded by three men.

"I know, I know," she sighed, pushing past him and approaching the guards.

"Miss Kathryn?" Asked one of the guards, both appearing confused at the sight of the young woman approaching them. "We thought that you were already inside."

"Wow, great job at guarding the mansion," she snapped, surprising herself at how perfectly she had managed to manifest Kathryn's manner of speaking. "You don't even know if _I'm_ in the mansion or not?"

The two guards shriveled, fear evident in their eyes. Violet couldn't help but felt a strange sense of pride in how well she was able to be Kathryn.

"Just let me in before I rip off your heads," she growled. Both guards obediently lunged forward, pulling the gates open and motioning for her to go inside. She nodded back, mimicking Kathryn's confident strut as she approached the mansion.

"Wow, spot-on impression. I have chills," Jacob said, appearing beside her as she made her way up the driveway.

"Thanks; that went better than expected."

"And now comes the hard part," he reminded her as they approached the door.

"Thanks for the reminder." Violet stopped short in front of the door. "Wait, how are we supposed to get in? Do you have a key?"

"Didn't think of that," he told her nonchalantly. "Just try opening it."

"That's not going to work," she hissed quietly. "She's so concerned with her safety, she's not just going to have the front door hanging open." She noticed the guards looking at her strangely, and remembered that they could not see Jacob. She glared at them, and they quickly turned away. She reached out, grabbing the knob and twisting… _click._

"Told you so," said Jacob.

"Unbelievable," she sighed as she entered the mansion. "Things always work out so smoothly for you."

Jacob paused, looking around the room. "I think I know where to look first."

They walked across the grand entrance to a room towards the back. Violet marveled at the mansion's interior, amazed at the type of luxury Kathryn lived with. Jacob grabbed her, pulling her to the side of the doorway. He stepped as close to the doorway as he could without being seen by whoever was inside. He slowly moved his head around the doorway, pulling back quickly and nodding at Violet. Violet swallowed a lump in her throat before taking cautious steps forward.

"Kathryn?"

Kathryn turned from her place at a table, closing the book she was reading as she eyed Violet with surprise. "Violet? How did you get in here?" Upon another look, Kathryn smirked. "Dressing like me. Nice." She pushed her curls over her shoulder, walking to stand a mere foot in front of Violet. "To what do I owe this surprise?"

"I had to talk to you, and I wanted to make sure I could actually see you," Violet lied. "I thought if I were to just walk up to the gates and ask, you would tell the guards to send me away."

Kathryn nodded slowly. "And what did you need to see me about so urgently?"

Violet moved further into the library, hoping Kathryn's eyes would follow her away from the doorway so that Jacob could get in. Kathryn was on her guard, and Violet felt as though she were taunting the devil himself. Her plan worked, and Jacob slipped in the doorway as Violet began to speak.

"I was just hoping to see if you could forgive me. For what I did." She tried to look as though she were full of regret, head hung as Kathryn stared her down.

"That's not what you want, Violet." She stepped closer once more, the two of them a breath away. "What are you _really_ here for?"

Fear reflected in Violet's eyes, but before she knew what was happening, Jacob had an arm wrapped around Kathryn. She tried to fight back, but he moved faster, shoving the needle into Kathryn's neck and injecting the Dead Man's Blood. For a moment, Kathryn's face showed total surprise. Her eyes then rolled back in her head, and she fell to the floor. Jacob leaned down and yanked the chain off of her neck, checking to see that the key was indeed on it. He looked up at Violet.

"Got it. Let's go."

* * *

><p>"I cannot believe your plan worked so smoothly," Violet said, clearly shocked by how well they had executed his plan.<p>

"I told you, you pay way too much attention to detail," he told her, unlocking the door to a shady motel room.

Violet shoved past him, running into the room to find Evan lying on the bed in a comatose state. An IV of a dark liquid dripped into his arm, and upon further inspection, Violet realized that it was Dead Man's Blood. She pulled the IV out of his arm, pulling him up into a sitting position in her arms. She put a blood bag to his lips, hoping the fresh human blood would wake him.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. I had it on a slow drip," Jacob explained from the doorway.

She looked up at him, expression serious and concerned. "I really wish you would think about what I said earlier."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"About forgetting about revenge. It's dangerous messing with the original vampires, and you're on your own in your fight. You don't stand a chance against them."

"I have to try." His expression was grave. "Do you know what it's like to find your entire family and all of your friends murdered in cold blood?"

"Yes," she replied quietly.

He nodded. "Right, you do. But not to the same extent as me. You found three of them; I found nearly everyone in my hometown. And I don't have anyone now like you do; I'm completely on my own. I'm practically a ghost; just wandering around, nonexistent. Somebody has to pay for that."

"It's too dangerous," she argued, trying to make him see her point. "You may think I don't care about you, Jacob, but I do. I always have, and always will. I don't want to see you get hurt. Or worse."

"I appreciate the concern. But I'm still going through with my plan."

She nodded. "I figured you would say that. That's why I took this." She held up the key, dangling from its chain. She hooked it around her neck. "Good luck getting it away from me."

His expression fell. "How did you get that away from me?"

"Pulled it out of your jacket when you weren't looking. As long as I hold this key, you're safe. I'm not letting it out of my sight."

Jacob twitched, lurching forward to grab it away from her. He suddenly appeared to hit an invisible wall, stumbling backwards in confusion. He reached out, touching the strange force that separated them. "What the hell?"

Violet smiled. "I found out while the Volturi had you that I have a power, too. I can shield myself from both mental attacks _and_ physical attacks."

"Violet, give me the key," he demanded, cool composure crumbling away.

"No. Go away, Jacob. Go somewhere you're safe."

"Violet, give it to me!" he shouted, voice full of anger.

"No," she replied calmly. "I don't think so."

"You're in danger as long as you have it," he warned. Kathryn will come after you."

"And if she does, I will happily hand the key back over to her. I got Evan back; that's all I wanted out of this little mission. You really didn't think I was going to let you keep the key, did you, Jacob? And get yourself killed? No; if Kathryn finds me, I will happily hand this key back over to her and explain what happened. I think it's time for you to leave now."

Jacob trembled with anger, glaring at her. "I _need_ that key."

"No; what you _need_ is to live. Goodbye, Jacob." She jumped up, shoving him out the door and into the motel hallway. She slammed the door shut; he pushed it open an instant later to find an empty room.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair before retrieving his phone from his pocket.

"Hello?" answered the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, it's me."

"Excellent. How did it go?"

Jacob paused for a moment before speaking. "It went well until the part where Violet used an ability I was unaware of to steal the key away from me."

The other end of the line was silent. "No worries; I will go and retrieve it from her."

"Don't kill her," Jacob said defensively. "She doesn't know what's really going on."

"Don't worry, I won't. Goodbye, Jacob."

"Good luck, Alexander," Jacob replied, disconnecting the line as he moved towards the exit.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hello, readers! I am so deeply sorry for the long wait between chapters; life got unbelievably hectic. But I hope you're all having happy holidays! I apologize that I never got back to the reviews I've gotten recently; I promise if you review this chapter, I _will _reply. Please let me know what you think! Is anyone starting to like Violet again? Is anyone a little angry with Jacob? What do you think of him working with Alexander? Please review and let me know what you think and what your theories about the future of this story are; I would love to hear them!


	26. Nothing Left to Lose

_The one thing about the dead is they've got nothing left to lose._

- American Horror Story

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><p><strong>Chapter 24<strong>

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><p><strong>Two months later<strong>

* * *

><p>"Rematch! Rematch!"<p>

"Emmett, we can have as many rematches as you want, I'm still going to win every single arm wrestling match," Bella grinned. "Just like I do every time."

"I blame Edward. I've barely seen you since the two of you decided to run off together after you graduated. I'm assuming the two of you _exercised_ a lot." Emmett winked at her.

"Hey, don't you remember our first wrestling match? The deal was, I win, you stop talking about my sex life."

Emmett pouted as Bella combed her fingers through her brunette waves, the other members of the family smirking as she mocked his expression. "There's nothing wrong with talking about the sex lives of my family members."

"It's a _little_ creepy, Emmett," Violet replied.

Bella's head whipped around, a cold stare as she locked eyes with Violet. "I don't need backup from you." After decades spent traveling the world, Bella and Edward had finally returned to stay with the family for the first time since Violet had joined them. Violet had been excited to meet Bella; however, after hearing the story of the Volturi capturing Jacob, Bella had joined Rosalie in the We Hate Violet fanclub. This was supposed to be a family picnic (with Renesmee as the only family member actually eating), but it didn't seem as though family bonding time was going too well.

"Now now, Bells, no need to get feisty." Everyone turned to see Jacob enter the clearing.

"Jacob?!" Bella exclaimed, the happiness and surprise both evident in her eyes. She shot across the clearing and had her arms wrapped tightly around his torso in less than an instant.

"Seems like it's been a hundred years since the last time I saw you," he grinned down at her.

"It _has_," she answered, pulling back from her tight hug to get a closer look at him. "You're a vampire now," she whispered.

"So are you," he replied. "I wish I had known you were going to survive a little sooner."

She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged, stepping past her further into the clearing to approach Violet. He reached his hand out. "I believe you have something of mine?"

She stood up, taking a step back as she protectively wrapped her hand around the key that now dangled from her neck. "I've already told you, Jacob; you can't have it. You having this key puts you in danger. Being near it, too. You should go."

"I'm not leaving until I have that key," he answered stubbornly.

She frowned at him, crossing her arms across her chest. "And I'm not giving it to you," she replied with just as much stubbornness in her tone.

"We should go home," Alice sighed. "Even if I could see their futures, something tells me I wouldn't see an end to this stare-down."

"Violet, what do you mean about that key putting him in danger?" Rosalie asked, pointing to the key. The rest of the family turned to look at Violet curiously.

"Don't tell them," Jacob warned.

"No, I think they have the right to know." Violet paused before continuing, glancing across the expecting faces of her family. "When Evan and I disappeared a couple of months ago, it was because Jacob _did_ take Evan, and he told me the only way he'd tell me where Evan was is if I'd help him steal this key from Kathryn."

Carlisle's eyebrows furrowed. "What is the key for?"

"I don't know. He claims it's something to kill Kathryn and Alexander with."

"Kill?" Jasper asked incredulously. "But that's impossible."

Jacob turned to Jasper. "Then why don't you help me get the key from her, and we'll find out?"

"It's dangerous, Jacob!" Violet said loudly. "I told you, I care about you, and if you try to kill them, they'll do something much worse to you than kill you."

Suddenly Edward, who had been off hunting, came out of nowhere with a syringe filled with Dead Man's Blood. Before anyone could blink, he had the syringe in Jacob's neck. "This isn't Jacob," Edward shouted to his family. "I heard his thoughts from a mile away. Jacob's powers block me from his mind. It's Alexander."

The whole family quickly got to their feet, Bella pulling Renesmee protectively behind her despite Renesmee being fully grown. They looked on in horror as Alexander did not fall. He blinked, appearing mildly irritated as he removed the syringe from his neck.

"Doesn't work on me," he said, turning to look at Edward. "See, even in her anger, Madeline still loved me enough to protect me. None of the little tricks that work on Kathryn or any of you will work on me."

"What are you doing here?" Esme asked, lip trembling. "What did you do with Jacob?"

"Relax," Alexander commanded, rolling his eyes. "I didn't hurt him. And I'm not going to hurt any of you. All I want is this key that the little Mercer doppelganger here has. I just thought I would try to get you to peacefully hand it over as Jacob before I had to become myself and resort to my threats."

"What do you want with it?" Evan asked, surprising everyone as he spoke up.

Alexander turned to look at him, his growing irritation evident. "As long as anyone else has it, my life is in danger. Not that you don't already know that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Violet asked.

Alexander sighed, boredom in his tone as he explained. "You really have not realized it yet? Any of you?" he asked, looking around at the confused faces of the Cullen family. "He's a Volturi spy. Aro's nephew, actually. Aro kept him hidden to protect him from association with the Volturi, but also to protect his identity so that he could spy for them. He reappears for special missions every hundred years or so, changing his appearance every time so that nobody remembers him. I'm guessing he was sent to spy on the Mercer doppelganger here, and when the Volturi were destroyed, he had nowhere else to hide."

"Violet?" Jasper said quietly, and everyone turned to look at her. She appeared to be made of stone; she stood completely still, fists clenched together, staring at the ground as the fire Jasper had felt igniting in her eyes.

"That's what Jacob said. I didn't believe him. I thought he was just jealous," she explained in an icy tone.

"That kid has been through a lot of emotions since becoming a vampire, but jealously is definitely not one of them." Alexander stepped closer to Violet, using two fingers to tilt Violet's chin up to look her in the eyes. "Nobody will judge you." He slowly removed a wooden stake from his pocket, offering it to her.

"Violet, please." Evan held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, appearing fearful of her growing rage. "Yes, that's all true, I admit it. But after a while I –"

"Don't you dare say you started to truly love me," Violet growled. "That's bullshit." She turned to Alexander, gesturing to the stake in his hand. "I don't need a weapon."

* * *

><p>"Get all the blood off?" Alexander asked as Violet entered her bedroom. She jumped in surprise, not expecting to see him standing by her fireplace, flames dancing dangerously across his face. "That was impressive. I have never seen someone literally rip out their lover's heart and stomp on it before."<p>

"He did it to me metaphorically, I did it to him literally," she answered, sitting down on the end of her bed. "What do you want?" she asked, cautiously wrapping her fingers around the key that dangled from her neck.

"Relax, I do not want the key."

"Then why did you try to take it from me earlier?"

"I just want to know that it is safe. As long as it is in my sight, I know that _I_ am safe. So you can either hand it over to me, or I can stay here and watch over you 24/7. Your choice."

"I'll do it to you, too," she threatened, glaring at him. "Kill you. Only I went easy on Evan. You murdered my family. And I _will_ avenge my family."

Alexander chuckled. "You are _still_ upset about that?" He moved towards the window, opening it up to leave. He turned to look at her. "Hand it over to me or have me around at all times. Your choice. I will be outside your window if you decide to hand it over. Goodnight."

Violet jumped up and slammed the window shut as soon as he was gone. She grabbed fistfuls of hair in frustration, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She wondered what she had done to deserve a fate as terrible as this.

* * *

><p><em>Ding dong!<em>

The doorbell's ring resonated through the house.

"Hey, stalker, do you want to make yourself useful and answer that?" Violet asked, turning to look at Alexander, who sat in a chair a few feet away from her with an open book in his lap.

She had insisted the rest of her family continue on with their family hunting trip that they had scheduled for the week. She knew that Alexander would not leave her alone, and she did not want him near her family. She had been alone with him for three days now, and he was irritating her so much, she almost wished he would just kill her. But that was his point in being around, so she stubbornly continued to refuse to hand over the key.

He looked up from the book. "No."

"You killed my family, and you can't even answer the door for me?"

He closed the book, standing up and striding over to the door. "Whatever it takes to get you to drop that old topic."

"Never," she answered.

The door clicked open, and for a moment, there was only silence.

"What are you doing here?" She heard Kathryn ask angrily.

Violet jumped up and ran to the door to see Kathryn looking at Alexander suspiciously, words dripping with hatred.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied, not moving to let her into the house.

"I know why both of you are here, so why don't you finish this conversation anywhere not in this house?" Violet tried. She felt nervous seeing Kathryn, worried she was here for revenge.

"Not so fast, doppelganger," Kathryn answered, shoving past Alexander and entering the house. "I want my key back."

"If she is going to give it to anyone, it will be me," Alexander told her, moving closer to Violet.

"You know what?" Violet said, retreating towards the staircase. "I'm going to my room. You two make yourselves at home. Because you clearly aren't planning to leave."

Violet got an entire three minutes alone before Kathryn knocked at her door. Without waiting for an invitation, Kathryn opened the door and entered the room, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Violet. "Look. I'm not mad at you. I'm sure you had a good reason to help Jacob steal the key."

"He had Evan," Violet offered softly. "He was going to hurt him if I didn't help. Though I'm wishing now that I had let him."

"That is understandable. And perfectly fine by me. But I really need that key back." Kathryn leaned closer, lowering her voice. "If you do not give it back to me to protect, we will all be in danger. Did Jacob tell you what it unlocks?"

"No," Violet answered. "Just that it could kill you and Alexander."

"And you, as well," said Alexander as he entered the room. "It is the key to Madeline's tomb."

"Madeline? Your wife? But she died thousands of years ago," Violet said looking back and forth between them. "Right?"

"No," Kathryn replied. "Not exactly. After Alexander and I turned, she refused to ever make us human again. She feared that one of us would come after her for revenge because of this, and so she cursed herself; she was frozen in time. She would not age, and could not be killed. I feared she would come after Alexander and me once more, and so I did what I had to in order to protect us; I poisoned her."

"Then how is she not dead?" Violet asked, still confused.

"She made a stupid mistake," Kathryn continued. "She made it so that she could not age or be killed; but she did not think to protect herself from other human weaknesses. I poisoned her, and she appeared to have died. But she did not die; not completely. I hid her body in a tomb on what is now Kodiak Island. At the time, nobody but a few natives knew of the place; I thought it was the perfect place to hide her. I then locked the tomb with this key, and she has been there ever since. All it would take for her to wake up would be a little bit of vampire blood. She cannot be a vampire, because she cannot die. But the blood will still heal her."

"Give me the key," Alexander demanded, holding out his hand.

"We have come to an agreement that Alexander can have the key. Neither of us want her to be awaken; it would be dangerous for us, as well as you and Jacob. And who knows what she might do to other vampires; she only meant for there to be two of us."

"I swear, Violet, I will not wake her up," Alexander promised. "I just do not trust anyone else with it."

Violet sighed. "I don't want her to get out." She handed the key to Alexander. He nodded, exiting the room.

"Thank you, Violet," Kathryn said with a smile. She looked down to see the onyx pendant hanging from Violet's neck. "You have my necklace," she observed with surprise.

"What, this?" Violet fingered the necklace. "This was given to me by my grandmother."

"Incredible." The smile on Kathryn's face grew larger. "This was the necklace I originally made to protect myself from sunlight. I gave it to my daughter on her sixteenth birthday and told her to pass it down through the generations. And now here it is, more than three thousand years later. Different chain, but same pendant."

"You had a daughter?" Violet asked.

"How else do you think you are a descendant of mine?"

"I don't know," Violet replied thoughtfully. "I guess I never really thought about it."

There was a knock, and both girls turned to see Alexander standing in the doorway. "Did you get it?" he asked Kathryn.

"Get what?" Kathryn questioned.

"The key?"

"I just handed it to you a few minutes ago," Violet answered. "Don't tell me you lost it already."

"I've been out hunting the past twenty minutes," he argued. "I went out when Kathryn came up here to speak to you. There's no way I have it."

"Shit," Kathryn whispered as the realization dawned on her.

"What is it?" Violet and Alexander asked in unison.

"Jacob."

"Oh my gosh," Violet whispered, echoing Kathryn's tone perfectly. "He told me he wanted to wake Madeline."

"What?" Alexander choked. "That was not our plan!"

"_Our_ plan?" Kathryn asked, looking at him incredulously. "Jacob was working with me."

"What are you both talking about?" Violet asked, voice rising to a higher pitch.

Kathryn's eyes were somehow growing larger with every passing moment. "Okay, let's just get everything out in the open. I will go first. _I_ was the one who rescued Jacob from the Volturi. We came up with a plan to get rid of you." She looked at Alexander.

"'Get rid of' me?" He inquired furiously. "You were planning on trying to kill me?"

"Yes." Kathryn hung her head. "I wanted you to suffer for what you did to me. He promised to help me since I had rescued him; I told him to get close to you, try to figure out what your weakness was. And the fastest way to do that was if he offered to work with you to steal the key. He was supposed to give it back to me once he had earned your trust."

"That liar!" Alexander exclaimed, eyes set to kill. "He told me you rescued him and told him you were planning to release Madeline to kill me; he offered to help get the key to protect me, because I'm his only remaining family."

"So if he lied to both of us, then what does it mean?" Kathryn asked, eyes about to pop out of her skull.

Violet spoke up. "I think you know what it means."

* * *

><p><strong>One day later<strong>

* * *

><p>After searching the island for four hours, Jacob had finally managed to locate Madeline's tomb. Kathryn had cleverly hidden it ten feet under an unmarked tombstone deep in the trees. He was happy to find it, knowing that Kathryn and Alexander would be just minutes behind him on his journey to Kodiak Island as soon as they realized he had pretended to be Alexander in order to steal the key. His plan would have gone much more smoothly had Violet simply handed over the key once she helped him steal it; he would have had more time before they noticed it was gone.<p>

He threw the shovel he had been using up to the ground above. Removing the key from around his neck, he knelt down, inserting it into the lock. The rusty old lock creaked as it unlatched for the first time in three thousand years. He removed a flashlight from his pocked and jumped down into the large chamber.

A beautiful young woman with pale skin and raven hair lay on a table in the center of the room, looking as if she were merely sleeping, despite the fact that her dress had become tattered over the years. He approached her, looking at her hesitantly for a moment before biting his wrist. Blood dripped from his wrist, and he put it to her mouth.

"Wake up, Grandma Madeline."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Hello, everyone! I apologize for how long it has taken me to update; this is the second-to-last chapter of the story, so I wanted to be sure I had everything in place for the final chapter. What are your thoughts on this chapter? Do you like any character any more or any less after reading it? Do you think Jacob was right to wake up Madeline, or do you think he should have listened to Kathryn and Alexander and left her alone? What do you think will happen in the last chapter?

**PLEASE REVIEW!** It would really mean a lot to me to get a total of at least 150 reviews on this story, and I know that's not too much to ask, seeing how many followers and favorites it has. So as soon as I get at least 12 reviews on this chapter, I promise I will update and trust that I will get the last few reviews on the last chapter. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	27. This Ends Tonight

**A/N:** Hello everyone! I don't even know where to begin apologizing for the long time between updates. I hope that you will still read and enjoy this chapter. I wanted to be sure I got this up before Christmas as a way to make your holidays a little more special. That being said, I want to thank you all so much for being such amazing, loyal readers! Every single review made me smile, and your support of my writing means the world to me. Thank you for being so awesome, and I hope you have an amazing holiday!

xoxo,

Rose Tyler

PS: Please be sure to leave a review and let me know your answers to the questions at the end of the story. I REALLY want to know your thoughts!

* * *

><p><em>Maybe you were free before my blackened wing covered you.<em>

_I took the sing from your song; I made a bed where you don't belong._

-Bed Howard, Esmerelda

_A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward._

- George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

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><p><strong>Chapter 27<strong>

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><p>"Are we close?" Violet whispered, turning to Kathryn as they trudged up a steep slope after Alexander. Wet leaves and mud clung to their boots from the miles they had walked.<p>

"Almost there," Kathryn replied. "Alexander, slow down. You are being too loud."

He turned back without slowing, glaring down at her. "We have to stop Jacob before he finds her."

"I know that," Kathryn told him. "But if he has already found her and awoken her, then we need to stay quiet to keep the element of surprise."

"Aren't you two stronger than her?" Violet asked, growing more nervous. "I mean, she is still technically human, and you're ancient vampires."

"You have no idea what she is capable of," Alexander replied, quickly shooting a dark glare towards her out of the corner of his eye as he fluidly pulled himself up over a fallen tree.

"Then what do we do if she's already free?"

"We will do what we have to," Kathryn replied simply. "This has to end."

After a few more minutes had passed, Kathryn put her arm out to stop Violet, grabbing Alexander's jacket and pulling him back.

"What?" he hissed, turning around.

"We're here." Kathryn pointed towards an old tree. Upon closer examination, Violet noticed an unmarked gravestone underneath, nearly hidden by long, overgrown weeds. The ground below it, however, appeared to be disturbed.

"He's already here," Alexander whispered. He and Kathryn turned slowly to each other, eyes meeting as they hesitated. Violet shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. Seeing for the first time a childlike fear in the eyes of the two ancient and powerful original vampires somehow made the horror of the situation feel all the more more real and intense. She realized that the three of them were in the eye of the storm, looking death in the eyes and daring it to come out and play.

"Maybe we should leave," Violet suggested. "Kathryn, you have your army, and we could get the Cullens, maybe working together we could-"

"No," Kathryn stated firmly. "We know where she is now. If we leave, we will not have any idea of her location. She could come after us as we pull a defense group together. It would be like a horror movie; we would all get picked off one by one. We would be giving her the upper hand. We need to stay now. This is between Madeline, Alexander, and me. The horrors of these past thousands of years need to end. Now."

Alexander nodded in agreement. "Violet, you have to go in."

"What?" Violet demanded, taken aback by his order. "Are you crazy?"

"We need to know whether or not she is awake. If Jacob has not awaken her yet, you can stop him. He will listen to you. And if she is awake, she cannot know that Katia and I are here."

"We will not let anything happen to you," Kathryn promised Violet, reaching out and giving her hand a quick squeeze. "You know you can do this."

Violet hesitated, looking back between the tomb and her companions. She knew that they were right, but her legs would not move.

"Go," Alexander growled.

Violet swallowed the lump in her throat. Slowly, she lifted her foot, placing it gently a few inches in front of her. She looked once more to Kathryn, who smiled with encouragement. Finally, finding the courage, Violet took a few more steps, slowly approaching the entrance to the tomb.

When she reached the entrance, she looked down. There was no light below except for the faint flicker of a candle. "Just do it," she told herself in a barely audible whisper. She remembered the swimming lessons she had taken as a child; the instructor had always told her it was better to simply jump in rather than dwelling on her fears. Shutting off the screaming voice in her head telling her to turn and run, she jumped into the tomb.

She landed on her hands and knees, inhaling deeply as the breath was knocked out of her on impact. "Not very graceful for a vampire," a familiar voice said softly.

Violet looked up to see Jacob calmly leaning against the wall of the tomb. She glanced around the room, eyes catching on the figure of a beautiful young woman laying on a stone table in the center of it. "That's her?" she asked quietly.

"Yes. This is Madeline," came his reply.

"You didn't wake her up, did you?" The fear showed in Violet's voice as she asked the question.

"She should be waking up any time now," he answered darkly, voice void of emotion. "If I were you I would start running."

"Come with me," she said, closing the gap between them and taking his hand. "We're not a part of this. This is between the three of them. We don't need to be here when this all goes down."

He pulled his hand away, chuckling in a manner that sent chills down her spine. "Why don't you get it, Violet? We were born into this. Born cursed. We have been a part of this since the moment Kathryn and Alexander met. We were meant to suffer. There is no escaping our fate. All we can do is delay the inevitable, and our time has run out. I'm ready to face whatever comes next."

"Jacob, you're talking crazy." She gently caressed his face, trying her best not to tremble as she did so. Fear rose in her voice, steadily growing more hysterical. "I can help you. We can leave now, we can go and I promise everything will get better. All of those years you spent buried alive drove you mad. It's okay though. It's all going to be okay."

She pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest as she made the decision to stay with him. He was stiff in her arms, not moving to hold her as she held him. She did not care though; whether or not he ever forgave her, she would stay and try to protect him, as he had protected her for so many years. She owed it to him.

"Is this not a curious sight to see," came a voice from behind them. Violet slowly pulled away from Jacob, turning to see that Madeline was now sitting up, looking at them with an expression that screamed insanity. She slowly turned, putting her bare feet to the cold floor, rising to move toward the two of them. "It would appear the doppelgänger does not replicate the feelings of the original Alexander. If only the real one had been so, this whole mess never would have started."

"We don't have anything to do with this," Violet told her, struggling to keep her voice steady and confident. "Please just let us leave."

Madeline smiled coldly. "I agree. Jacob here told me the whole story as I was waking up." She slowly paced back and forth, looking thoughtful, as if she had all the time in the world. She then looked back at Jacob and Violet. "I apologize that two of you became involved in this little mess I have made. The time has come now for me to take responsibility and clean it up. I shall put an entrapment curse upon this tomb; Alexander and Katia will be trapped in here forever to live out their curse without any hope of escape. They will be shut off from the rest of the world, and the natural order shall resume. They will desiccate, and they shall suffer." The candlelight lit up her wicked smile. "As for the you doppelgängers; you may choose one of two options. The first is that the two of you can stay here and fight with Alexander and Katia, and die with them. The second is that you leave now. I shall turn you both back into humans. You can live your lives in peace, and eventually die of old age."

Violet looked at Madeline incredulously. "Of course we want the second option, why wouldn't we?"

"Because, my dear, I told you that I must clean up the mess I made. The _entire_ mess."

Realization dawned on Violet. "When you say 'the natural order', you mean… an end to vampirism?"

Madeline nodded. "Yes, the bodies of all of you 'vampires', as you call yourselves, will be restored to the state of which they should be in at the current time."

"But that means that my family will all die," Violet cried, bravely stepping forward. "They are hundreds of years old, they had multiple injuries and illnesses when they died-"

"And so those injuries shall return, and their bodies shall desiccate. Everything must return to its natural state. I am only offering to restore the lives of you and Jacob, since they are the only lives I intentionally put into this mess." Madeline then moved to stand under the opening of the tomb. Stones suddenly protruded from the wall to form steps, causing Violet to jump back in surprise. "You have five minutes to to make your decisions," she told them as she began to ascend the steps.

When Madeline was out of earshot, Violet turned to Jacob. "We have to help fight with Kathryn and Alexander. We can't let other vampires die, and we definitely cannot let the Cullens die; they're our family."

"_Your_ family," Jacob corrected, finally breaking his nonchalant silence as he moved toward the stairs. "If I were you, I would run," he repeated.

Violet chased him up the stairs. When she got to the top, however, he was gone. She turned to see Madeline cutting open her hand, letting her blood drip into the tomb below. She muttered incantations in Latin, holding her eyes shut for a moment before standing back and looking up to meet Violet's gaze.

"Jacob left. Go with him."

"No," Violet replied firmly.

"No?" Madeline asked, appearing to be both amused and surprised.

"No," repeated Violet. "I want to protect my family. I will stay and try to stop you, even if I die in the process."

"You are a very brave girl. It is admirable." Madeline smiled, the coldness never leaving her eyes. "It is a shame that you are going to die."

Violet suddenly lost all of her senses; she could not see, hear, feel, or even smell a thing. Total blackness surrounded her. She felt in the back of her mind a presence; something inside of her knew that Madeline was within arms reach, ready to kill her. She was prepared to die.

Suddenly, her senses came back. Vision blurry, she saw the figures of Kathryn and Madeline struggling on the ground. She felt a hand wrap around her forearm; she turned to see Alexander pulling her up to her feet.

"Run," he commanded, lurching forward to pull Madeline off of Kathryn. Violet turned and ran, fight continuing behind her retreating back.

"Of course you are helping the whore," Madeline screamed hysterically. "Even before stealing you away from me, she had that bastard daughter. Not the slightest idea who the father was," she cackled.

Violet stopped when she was out of sight, hiding to watch the events unfold. She had no intention of leaving like Jacob had; she would do what she had to to save her family. She looked back in time to see Madeline throw Kathryn and Alexander against two nearby trees with the flick of her wrist, dark hair now as wild as her eyes.

"You two wanted to be together forever?" she shouted hysterically, enraged in her insanity. "I shall give you your wish. You wanted to be to together forever, and so I made it that there was no other way. You will _never_ leave this Earth. But I can make you suffer. I can make you feel my pain."

"I love you, Madeline." Madeline froze, turning slowly to look at Alexander. Honestly in his eyes, he continued. "You never gave me a chance to tell you that. You were so hell-bent on revenge you never gave us a chance to talk. I loved you, and I loved our son, and I wanted us to be a happy family again. Katia was a mistake; I see that now. I loved her, but have always loved you more. I waited for you; for years, I have been trying to find you. I never stopped looking. I helped Jacob find the key, because I knew that he would find you and free you. Please let me down, do whatever you want to her but just let me down so that I can at least hold you in my arms one more time before I die."

Tears brimmed Madeline's eyes. "Do you really mean that?" she asked in disbelief.

"With all my heart," he replied, pain in his voice. Hurt reflected in Kathryn's eyes with his words.

Madeline looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then let him drop to his feet. He quickly closed the distance between then, embracing her. She collapsed into his arms, sobbing as he held her. "I did not know, I did not know…"

"Shhh… it's alright," he whispered in a soothing voice, stroking her hair. "I've got you now."

Suddenly, in one swift movement, he flew over to the entrance of the tomb, throwing her down inside. Kathryn fell with a thud from the tree Madeline had her against as Madeline lost her concentration. Madeline shrieked, running up the stairs to grab Alexander. She appeared to hit an invisible lid, however, bouncing back to the tomb floor below.

Alexander smiled down at her as she continued to wail. "I cannot _believe_ how easy that was," he said proudly. "I thought it was worth a shot, but… it actually worked!" He laughed. "I heard you curse the tomb, you crazy bitch. You made it so that no one inside could ever escape, and you made the curse unbreakable. Enjoy the rest of eternity in your tomb. It is where you belong."

He turned to look at Kathryn. She smiled at him with a hopefulness in her eyes. "So you did not mean any of that? You do love me?"

"No. I do not love you. I never loved you. I never loved her, either," he stated matter-of-factly, pointing down towards the tomb entrance. "How could I ever love either of you? You are _both_ crazy."

"No, Alexander," Kathryn replied, spite now in her voice. "_You_ are the crazy one. All this time I thought of Madeline as a sociopath, but it was you all along. The only crazy thing either of us ever did was love you."

He ran at her, tackling her to the ground as a heavy rain began to fall. She fought back, struggling against the only person in the world with strength evenly matched to hers. She grabbed a nearby branch, driving it through his heart. He laughed, pulling it back out as if it were merely a splinter and grabbed her by her hair. He drug her towards the tomb, and she screamed as she realized what he was doing, unable to find footing in all of the mud.

"You are going down in that tomb with Madeline, and you are both going to stay there forever. I am going to _finally_ get to live my life the way I have been wanting to. I am finally going to take my throne as king of the vampire world, I will rule and nobody will get in my way of getting what I want."

He dropped her hair, her face inches from the entrance. Violet screamed as she realized what was going to happen to her only remaining relative, the ancient vampire who she had grown to love despite everything they had gone through together. Alexander turned to look for the source of the scream. Before he could spot Violet, he was tackled to the ground. He screamed in fury as he became disoriented, feeling his body being violently dragged. His body suddenly flew through the air, landing with a thud after falling for what felt like many feet. With horror, he realized where he was.

Kathryn looked down into the tomb to see Alexander below, staring up in surprise. She then looked up to see Jacob standing over her. He reached down and she took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. Violet ran up, throwing her arms around Kathryn. Kathryn hugged her back, surprise showing in her silvery blue eyes as they met Jacob's over Violet's shoulder.

"You're both stupid. I can't believe I'm related to either of you," he said looking down into the tomb, keeping his calm composure.

"You came back," Kathryn said in surprise.

"You really thought I would leave?" he asked, feigning hurt. "I set my trap, and everyone fell into it so nicely."

"Think of what she did to you, Jacob!" Madeline shrieked from inside the tomb. "She killed your family; she made you a monster. Do not let her get away with it."

"That was never my intention," Jacob replied.

"What do you mean?" Violet asked, confused.

Kathryn nodded in understanding, stepping away from Violet. "I killed your family, and you still want to avenge them. You may be the only person in this mess who truly knows of love and loyalty." She moved to stand in front of Jacob, gently wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him close for one last time. "I deserve it. I will go in willingly."

He wrapped his arms around her slim waist, pulling her closer. "It's nothing personal," he said into her hair. "You've changed."

"I know Baby. I know." She pulled back, gazing into his eyes with a mixture of understanding and pure adoration. "I wish we could have met under different terms."

"Me too," he answered sadly.

She softly kissed his cheek as she turned towards the tomb.

"Kathryn, you can't seriously be considering going down into that tomb. They will eat you alive," Violet cried, grabbing Kathryn's arm.

"This is what I deserve. Like I said earlier, this ends tonight."

"There has to be another way," Violet said desperately. "I can't lose you. You're all I have."

Kathryn leaned closer, whispering into Violet's ear so that nobody else could hear. "You still have Jacob. He will forgive you in time." She stepped back, gently taking the pendant on Violet's necklace in her hand. "I will always be with you," she said as she looked down at it.

Releasing the necklace, she turned to Jacob. "Close it, and make sure nobody ever finds us."

He nodded as she descended down the stairs. An air of finality lingered as she disappeared into the shadows below. Jacob walked over, shutting the door to the tomb. He snapped the lock back into place, walking away into the trees. When he returned a moment later, he had three bags of quick-dry cement. Violet watched in stony silence as he opened the bags, pouring the mixture on top of the entrance. It mixed with the rain, solidifying and forever trapping the three demons of the past below.

When it was dry, Jacob covered the top with dirt and leaves, making it appear as though there were nothing below. Life was free to go on as if nothing of the past hundred years had happened, and yet as Jacob glanced at Violet in that moment, it was evident that neither of them would ever be the same.

"I love her." Violet told him, and he knew what she meant.

"I know. I love her too." He turned, trudging steadily through the rain and mud back towards civilization.

Violet fell to her knees in the mud, tearlessly weeping as she wrapped her tiny fingers around the onyx pendant that would forever rest over her heart.

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><p><strong>The End<strong>

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><p><strong>AN:** Please remember to review! Let me know:

1) What you thought of the story.

2) Who your favorite character was.

3) Who your least favorite character was.

4) What you hope happens after the story's end.

5) What you think of Jacob's decision to stay loyal to his family despite his feelings for Kathryn.

6) Any other thoughts you have, I would love to hear them!

**Thanks again for reading!**


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